The story made international headlines. News outlets all over ran with the story of the theft of a swimming pool - and all of its water - from a backyard in New Jersey. Now, belatedly, the paper that broke the story is asking questions about the story. Here's the original story:
PATERSON — Someone stole 1,000 gallons of water from Daisy Valdivia's backyard. And they didn't spill a drop.
Valdivia woke Wednesday morning to find that her family's inflatable pool, hip high and 10 feet in diameter and filled with water, was stolen from her backyard in the middle of the night. There is no evidence that the water was poured out, pumped out, evaporated or drunk.
"I've never heard of a pool being stolen, let alone one with water in it," Valdivia said.
According to Valdivia, the theft must have occurred between 1 a.m., the time her husband went to bed, and 5 a.m., the time she woke to put out the recycling.
And now the story where the paper begins to try to verify the sensational headlines:
Why were helicopters flying so low over McBride Avenue, wondered Paterson residents who got a glimpse of news choppers circling the city. Valdivia, a secretary at Paterson's Impact Academy, could answer that one. She took the day off to field reporters' questions about how thieves made off with a pool filled with water weighing nearly 8,500 pounds — the equivalent of two pickup trucks.
"Channel 7, Channel 11, 12, 2, Univision — I have five out here right now," she said.
News stations as far away as England ran the story of the missing pool. A radio station in Minnesota contacted the Herald News asking for theories on the disappearance of the pool.
But private investigator Sam Goow pondered another mystery: whether the pool was stolen at all. The gumshoe has worked for insurance companies investigating fraudulent stolen boat and car claims and now runs his own agency, Investigations Unlimited in Totowa.
"My wheels started spinning — wait a minute," he said. "I want to know where they bought the pool, when did they buy it, how much did they pay for it, did the neighbors see it in the backyard? Maybe they did see a pool but when did they see the pool? When did they see the pool filled? Did they see the pool filled completely?"
He said fraud investigators often find people's stories about stolen items collapse under detailed questioning.
The paper tried to find out if the local water authority could verify that the pool had been filled, but they thought to do so after the offices had closed for the day. Neighbors are also puzzled by the whole thing. But the media actually sent freaking helicopters to take pictures of the yard? You have got to be kidding me.