“I think just something for to pawn, maybe for drug money, possibly,” Markle said. “I think they’re very desperate people.”

Just down the road, Markle’s brother’s pick-up truck was stolen – and returned.

“They brought it back and had a note in there in Spanish that said ‘pray for me,’” Markle said. “He had some Bibles in there, and I think that might have been what made them bring his truck back.”

“My guess, at this point, is that he saw that and tried to amend for their mistake,” Southwestern Regional Police Chief Greg Bean said.

A third house nearby was also burglarized, and nearly a fourth.

“A newly installed alarm that he just recently put in had alerted him that someone was on his property,” Bean said.

Bean said the fourth homeowner came outside with a gun.

“He was very frightened, fired his firearm up in the air several times, and that caused the suspect in this case to leave,” he said. “To confront anybody, who we believe is very desperate, in their actions, is very risky.”

Bean believes all these crimes are linked, but he’s not sure what it says about the criminal to have him return a stolen truck. He said such actions rarely happen.

Over the last five weeks, Bean said there have been about 15 burglaries just like these, so he’s looking to leads to find who is behind them and is checking with other police departments to see if they’ve had any of the same.

The chief says no force was used in the burglaries. Ill of the 15 cases, doors were unlocked or keys were left inside the vehicles.