Maricopa County Sheriff’s detectives have concluded a seven month long computer crimes investigation involving a well-known public information officer for the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control Department.
Melissa Gable, employed at Animal Care and Control, was the victim of computer tampering, stalking, and ID theft. Her assailant, a former colleague at the county shelter, was arrested by Sheriff’s detectives in west Phoenix late Monday.
“This was a complicated investigation,” Arpaio says, “but after a computer forensics analysis, the issuance of multiple search warrants and other investigative work, the suspect was located allowing the victim to be assured that the salacious emails being attributed to her will cease.”
Gable’s woes started in May of this year when she began receiving sexually explicit texts to her work phone number from several men who believed they were responding to a Craigslist ad she had allegedly posted. The emails caused Gable significant emotional distress particularly as they contained Gable’s full name, her work phone number and sexual comments about her boss as well. And she wasn’t the only employee of Animal Care and Control to be victimized by the same assailant.
Detectives soon determined that there was a second victim, Cory Hillyer, also a former employee at the shelter, who was sent sexually explicit emails containing his name and phone number.
Administrators from Craigslist were very cooperative with the investigation, Arpaio says, and a forensic analysis of their information ultimately led Sheriff’s detectives to Audie Greybear, a former public information officer at the Maricopa County Animal Care & Control. He apparently lost his job at the shelter some time ago, a fact that may have soured his relationships with the victims.
Greybear was arrested, booked and will be charged with the felony crimes of computer tampering, stalking, and ID theft.