LINDALE - Board by board, shingle by shingle, for nearly three months, they dismantled the three-bedroom brick house and carted it away until only a pile of rubble was left.
Their only problem: they didn't own it.
Authorities say two men jailed this week took the house apart and sold it for drugs, in plain view of everyone cruising by on Lindale's Main Street - U.S. Highway 69.
"We drove by and watched the house come down," said Smith County Constable Dennis Taylor. "We wondered why it was taking so long, rather than just bulldoze it. It took about a month before the top even collapsed."
Taylor estimated about 90 percent of the house was found at Vega's residence. The brick and shingles are still unaccounted for.
"It's the strangest case I've ever worked in my life," Taylor said. "Everybody drove by and waved at them, said, 'Great to see you getting that house off - we're fixing to get Lowe's and Wal-Mart in here.'"
http://www.tylerpaper.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1994&dept_id=341384&newsid=14200839&PAG=461&rfi=9
From:
About me: “'But I don’t want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked. 'Oh, you can’t help that,' said the Cat. 'We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.' 'How do you know I’m mad?' said Alice. 'You must be,” said the Cat, 'or you wouldn’t have come here.'” -Lewis Carroll