Mossyrock woman arrested for allegedly stealing rent payments from a dropbox in 2023

A Mossyrock woman accused of stealing two checks totalling approximately $1,200 from a property manager’s dropbox in October 2023 and altering the checks before depositing them into her own account was arrested on Friday.

Karlyn Suzann Buttelo, 48, was charged Aug. 30 with one count of second-degree theft and two counts of forgery following an investigation by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The owner of Lewis County-based property management company Real Estate Marketing Group Inc. contacted the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office on Oct. 10, 2023, to forward a report from a tenant, who said “that rent payments placed in the Marketing Group’s dropbox had been stolen,” according to court documents.

Two money orders, one for $1,000 and one for $169.33, from the same tenant were reported stolen. The funds were deposited and transferred before the tenant was able to cancel the checks, according to court documents.

Surveillance video of the dropbox reportedly captured footage of the suspect, who was later identified as Buttelo, taking the checks from the box, according to court documents.

Investigators determined via bank records that the money orders were altered by hand, with the payee “OpenSky” handwritten over the original payee, and deposited into a bank account on Oct. 13, 2023.

Bank records reportedly show that Buttelo is the account holder for “OpenSky.”

“Attempts to contact Butello have been unsuccessful,” prosecutors noted in the charging documents, detailing a detective’s attempts to call four different numbers associated with Butello and to contact her at her registered Mossyrock address.

“To date, her whereabouts are unknown,” prosecutors wrote in charging documents filed on Aug. 30.

Lewis County Superior Court subsequently issued a $25,000 warrant, which Buttelo was arrested on.

She was booked into the Lewis County Jail at 3:55 p.m. on Sept. 20, according to jail records.

A judge ruled Monday to maintain Buttelo’s $25,000 bail. Arraignment was scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 26.