Woman allegedly used dog as partner in burglaries

MONROE — The middle-aged woman seemed convincing enough as she stood in the driveway of a home on Chain Lake Road.

She dressed in nice clothes one might wear to work.

She explained to the man who stopped to question her that she was looking for someone, then she drove away from the Monroe neighborhood in a Dodge Charger with Oregon license plates.

Only after she had disappeared that October day did the man discover some of his relatives’ belongings piled up outside the back of the house.

A check inside revealed several expensive watches, two firearms and other items were missing.

Police said the woman burglar was both professional and disarming.

“She was able to convince the witness that she belonged there,” Monroe police Sgt. Ryan Irving said.

Police believe the woman, 44, has left more than 20 victims in the lurch from Puyallup to Monroe. On Friday, they arrested Michelle T. Moyer for investigation of more than two dozen counts of possessing stolen property, identity theft and financial fraud.

What stands out to police is how the woman comported herself when she was spotted on peoples’ property, including some back yards. She never seemed to panic and always had a plausible explanation. In more than one instance, she was accompanied by her dog named Boo. Police said she’d use the laptop-sized pooch as part of a ruse.

“She has a story ahead of time,” Irving said. “She has this thought-out story and she is believable.”

The description of the silver late-model Dodge Charger with Oregon plates was a starting point for Monroe police who correctly guessed that the car was a rental.

On Oct. 10, the day after the Chain Lake Road burglary, officer Nate Erdmann drove by a rental car office in downtown Monroe. He spotted a car matching the description given by the witness.

Company officials told police that a woman with a Missouri address rented the car Sept. 20 in Seattle but failed to return when it was due three days later. The name of the woman renting the car was Michelle Moyer. The company had reported it stolen. It was dropped off in Monroe shortly after the Chain Lake break-in.

The investigation revealed that the suspect also had an expired Washington driver’s license with an Everett address and that she’d been booked into the Snohomish County Jail in March for investigation of possessing and trafficking in stolen property. Monroe police obtained the booking photo.

The witness from Chain Lake Road picked Moyer’s photo from a group of pictures.

Monroe officers learned that Bothell police had contact with Moyer and a man with an extensive criminal history at a motel in mid September. The case yielded two more useful nuggets of information: the license plate to a pickup truck and a Monroe area address.

Monroe police also learned that the woman recently bought a motor home. When police drove by the Monroe address, they noticed the pickup truck and a motor home.

The next day, Monroe police tailed the woman and a man she was with to Shoreline. He was doing yard maintenance at a home, using what police believe was stolen equipment.

Both were detained. Drugs were found.

Back at the Monroe property where the pair had been staying, police recovered laptops, electronics equipment, more than 100 pieces of jewelry, credit cards, identification cards, firearms, pawn shop slips and checks that were believed stolen. The goods are believed to be worth tens of thousands of dollars, Irving said.

Two of the firearms recovered were from the Chain Lake Road home.

“We have identified 20-plus other victims,” Irving said.

The burglaries occurred during the day when people were at work.

In some cases, police called people who didn’t know they had been theft victims.

At the heart of the investigation was the Sky Valley Enforcement Team, a group of officers who target crime in Monroe and the surrounding areas.

“One of the philosophies behind the team is criminals cross boundaries and we have a team in place that will cross those boundaries and follow those trails,” police department spokeswoman Debbie Willis said.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.