Child care queries end with home robberies
On a typically hot July day, Maria Valladolid invited what she thought was a young mother and her baby boy into her home and offered them a glass of water.
Little did she know her kind gesture would cost her a television, a computer and two iPods, among other belongings.
Police know the young mother as “Daisy,” and her looks are deceiving. At least 10 people have fallen victim to her baby-sitting scam, losing jewelry, electronics and other valuables. She is described as a Hispanic female, 20-30 years old and stands between 5 feet and 5 feet 3 inches tall. She has a distinctive birthmark or mole on the side of her face near her mouth.
The scam usually works like this: “Daisy” knocks on the door and asks whether you can baby-sit her toddler at some future date. She chats about work, gives you her phone number and wants to meet at a location a few days later so you can pick the child up. But “Daisy” never shows. In the time it takes to figure out she won’t be arriving, your house is being burglarized.
“Daisy” works with two or three males, and some victims say they’ve seen a black Honda Civic at the time of the burglaries. The crew has eluded police for at least six months — the most recent crime happened in late December.
At this point, police have no leads, said Las Vegas police Detective Antonio Munoz, who is handling the case.
Valladolid lives in Mirabella Apartments, a complex on the valley’s east side which has been hit by “Daisy” and her cohorts several times. She changed apartment locations after her belongings were stolen.
Valladolid said that during a later encounter, “Daisy” came to the apartment as the family was leaving to go to the park. “Daisy” asked where they were headed. About 90 minutes later, Valladolid and her family returned from the park to find their apartment ransacked.
“I had worked so hard for those things, and everything in my room was upside down,” said Margarita Pena, Valladolid’s 20-year-old daughter. Along with both iPods and a computer, her 37″ television had been stolen, which she says was too heavy for one person to carry. And the group had to be tracking the family for quite some time as they have a strict daily schedule, she added.
Exactly one month later, Valladolid said she saw “Daisy” in the complex as she parked her car. Both women made eye contact, and Valladolid tried to write down a plate number of the Civic but was not fast enough.
“I’m very angry she’s using her kid,” Valladolid said, using Pena as a translator. “How can someone use their child like that?”
It is unclear, however, if the child is related to the suspect, Munoz said.
“Daisy” attacks mainly on the east side of town by knocking on random doors to approach residents. She is persistent if they refuse to help, Munoz added. Apartment managers at complexes that have been victimized passed out fliers to residents advising them not to answer the door to anyone who fits her description, and to immediately call police or Crime Stoppers at 385-5555.
It is unknown whether the thieves are armed.
Contact Kristi Jourdan at kjourdan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.