A mysterious stranger named John arrived
in a small town in North Carolina.
No one knew who he was, but it didn't
take long for the locals to love him...
Especially a woman named Leigh.
As a single mother, Leigh grew closer to John, but she
couldn't ignore the feeling that he was hiding something.
Little did she know, the subject of
Leigh's infatuation was a convicted felon..
living secretly in a Toys R Us for the past few months...
And finally planning his next hit.
November, 2004.
The small church community in North Carolina was a quiet, peaceful
place, but there was something ominous about their new addition, John.
He was perfect, with his saint-like demeanor and quiet humility.
With a prince-like charm out of a storybook, he
always seemed ready to give gifts to children in need.
A local woman, Leigh Wainscott, quickly fell
for his charms, and things were getting serious.
John had just spent another weekend with her and her two
boys, even helping the family to put up their Christmas tree.
But she couldn’t shake the feeling there
was something John wasn’t telling her.
He seemed to have a life beyond them, one that he kept hidden.
Separating his personal and professional life, he
refused to disclose what his occupation was, exactly.
All they knew was that John worked a top-secret government job.
A job that allowed him to spoil his girlfriend rotten…
Yet Leigh still felt she didn’t know him completely.
John’s home, which he never brought any guests to,
could only be described as a children’s wonderland.
The walls were freshly painted and adorned with movie posters
and mini basketball hoops, and his entertainment center was
complete with a full DVD library, his favorite being Spiderman.
Not luxurious by any means, but it was home.
At night, before he tucked himself into his Spiderman bed sheets,
John sleepily gazed around his apartment, lovingly observing
the elaborate collection of action figures he’d collected over
the past months since he moved in, and his dreams took over.
The tiny 4 by 10 feet apartment was set up under a staircase.
John had routed some pipes to the adjacent building for running
water, and had an endless supply of baby food for when he got hungry.
Peering through a baby monitor, he could watch people going about
their day in the neighboring building, privy to when they arrived
early in the morning for work, up until when they left for the day.
His silent days of observing their every move and planning were over.
He would make his move on December 26th,
right after Christmas, on boxing day.
Years of scheming had led up to this moment.
Three years ago, in 1997, it was a simpler time when
kids were living the dream, getting their fix of Happy
Meals and ice cream cones in McDonald’s during the
weekends, under the golden arches in sunny California.
Unbeknownst to the patrons and employees,
trouble was hanging just above.
A masked figure was perched on the roof, patiently
waiting for closing time, as the hot sun was
setting and the last customers were trickling away…
He was better known to police as “The Roofman”, and had been
wreaking havoc on fast food restaurants coast to coast for months.
Once the final customer left the establishment,
the masked man got to work, drilling holes into
the roof, boring all the way through the ceiling.
Once he had a good opening, the Roofman quickly
descended, dropping right into the middle of staff
working to finish off their shift, alarming them.
The Roofman was confident—it wasn’t his first rodeo.
He firmly ordered the cashier to hand over the daily
receipts to ensure he got all the daily earnings.
When the employee didn’t comply right away,
he popped a few warning shots into the air.
The Roofman never intended to injure anyone,
but a little motivation couldn’t hurt.
With shaking hands, the cashier handed over the receipts.
Mumbling a thanks, the invader couldn’t help but
to feel bad, inspecting his potential earnings.
The underpaid teenagers working at the Mcdonald’s
were easy targets, and were just doing their jobs.
He decided to crack a joke to break the tension.
“Well, look at it this way, at least
you’ll get the rest of the day off!”
But the Roofman wasn’t done yet–he was nice enough
to let the employees grab their jackets before
gesturing them to step into the walk-in freezer.
With one final sweep of the premises and a bagful of cash, he reassured
them he’d call the police on the way out before closing the door.
The Roofman’s MO went on for a few years, until one night in 2000,
he made one crucial mistake that would take his whole operation down.
After closing a freezer door on some scared employees,
he lingered too long outside the restaurant.
The police noticed a suspicious man and made an
arrest on the spot before he could get to his car.
Seeing no way out, the Roofman surrendered
and was cordial during his questioning.
The police had finally caught the rooftop bandit after
years of chasing, but had no idea what was up his sleeve.
Armed with months of quiet contemplation,
no bars would be able to break his ambition.
Jeffrey Manchester had been serving time at the
Brown Creek Correctional Institution for four years.
He managed to snag a job at the prison’s metal shop for good
behavior, and his natural charm gained the trust of other inmates.
He had gotten some information about the surrounding
area from paying off his new friends with cigarettes.
Using the metal shop to his advantage,
he was able to work on personal projects.
Over the last few months, he had shaped an escape plan.
Jeffrey crafted a plywood plank into a useful tool to
camouflage himself, and also sewed together old prison
jumpsuits, meticulously designing civilian clothes from them.
And now, all he needed was the perfect timing—Tonight was the night.
The pouring rain would make it harder
for the guard dogs to track his scent.
When the sun went down, under the cover of darkness, the Roofman snuck
out, careful to avoid the mud that splashed around with the rain.
Finding a delivery truck that was making the supply
rounds, he climbed into the undercarriage, using the
plywood plank he made as a platform to lie down upon, which
also shielded him from the mud as well as prying eyes.
Once a safe distance from the facility, he planned
to hitchhike his way into the city, using the
information he had obtained from his inmate friends.
Where the felon ended up surprised everyone, including himself.
Reaching a small town in Mecklenburg County, the
escaped convict rushed to find somewhere he could hide.
Wearing the civilian clothing he had tailored, he was confident that
as long as nobody recognized his face, nothing could possibly go wrong.
Climbing out of a car he had hitchhiked in for the last
stretch of the road, that’s when the convict saw it: Toys R Us.
Entering the large toy store, he decided to wander
around until the store closed, leaving him the only
person in there after hours, unnoticed by the staff.
Once the doors were locked behind him, he snuck into the manager’s
office, grabbing a camera system’s manual and memorizing until he
had a better understanding of the security system than the employees.
Then, searching for a fool-proof hiding spot all over
the store, covered by the blind spots of the cameras,
he discovered a small space behind the bicycle display.
Over the next weeks, Jeffrey made the Toys R Us his home,
hiding in this little cubby hole, tucked away inside the store.
At night, he cycled on the bicycles on display around the store,
and raced remote control cars on the roof if he needed air.
Life was looking up for the Roofman as he got to work,
moving around the employee’s schedules to suit his own needs.
But alas, he couldn’t keep his rent-free idyllic life forever.
Christmas music pervaded through the store as shoppers
piled up to buy the perfect gifts for their young ones.
Children ran around, filled with cheer,
pointing out everything on their wish-lists.
But holiday hours meant the customers stayed longer.
It became exceedingly more difficult to hide in the store, waiting for
everyone to leave, so the Roofman needed to find a new place—and fast.
That’s when he noticed a small hole
underneath a stairwell in the basement.
Digging inside, he found that the basement was
connected to another building adjacent to Toys R Us–
an abandoned electronics store called Circuit City.
From his new hide-out, he observed the toy store from a
baby monitor and waited for the perfect time to strike.
His plan seemed easy enough, find a weapon and
hold up the store, get as much cash as possible.
If the police were alerted, fleeing to his cubby-hole
was easy enough–there was no way anyone would find him.
As it turns out, the sweet little hiding
spot couldn’t stay hidden forever.
On December 26th, one of the biggest retail
days in the US, the Roofman made his move.
The plan was going smoothly, almost too good to be true— he had
the store held up with a gun he had lifted from another shop.
But, things didn’t go according to plan.
Suddenly, two of the employees ran to the
back of the store to alert authorities!
Cursing under his breath, the Roofman took
off with his riches towards his hiding spot.
He needed to get rid of as much evidence as possible, fast!
When the police arrived, he was already long gone.
Combing through every inch of the store to find any
trace of evidence, they came across a small cubby
hole in the basement that led to the adjacent store.
The walls were covered in posters and filled with child-like luxuries.
They found his stash of baby food, explaining how
he was able to sustain himself while in hiding.
The only fingerprint they were able to uncover was
ironically on a DVD copy of “Catch Me If You Can.”
Matching the print to the escaped felon, police put out flyers
searching for the missing perpetrator: Jeffrey Manchester.
After asking several locals in the area if they had
recognized the man, it was two members of the presbyterian
church that recognized him… as John, the quiet newcomer
who had generously given his time to their small community.
John’s secret was finally revealed, but it wasn’t over yet.
Police tracked down girlfriend Leigh Wainscott, who was
shaken when she learned that it was all a deception— the man
she fell in love with, the person decorating the glimmering
Christmas tree back home with the kids, had betrayed her.
All this time, she was unknowingly dancing with a criminal in disguise.
The toys he lovingly gave to the kids in church turned
out to be stolen from the Toys R Us he was living in.
Leigh couldn’t decide if she wanted to hug him or yell at him!
Where did those expensive earrings really come from?
What else was “John” hiding?
Knowing it was the right thing to do, Leigh helped police
come up with a plan to capture the Roofman once and for all.
The couple had plans to meet on the evening of
January 5th to go out for Leigh’s birthday dinner.
After that, John mentioned that he planned on going on a “secret
assignment” for work, and would be out of town for a while.
That night, as he arrived to pick up Leigh at her home,
he was met by police who immediately apprehended him.
Jeffrey, ever the gentleman, went down without a fight.
Now, locked away, the Roofman is left to
work off the rest of his 45 year sentence.
The question remains, will he ever find a way
to shingle-handedly rob more fast food chains?