A 66-year-old Springfield man had his safe stolen. There was $100K inside.

Giacomo Bologna | Springfield News-Leader

Bobby Hamilton, 66, has had a rough year.

His cat had to be put down. His neighbor accused him of backing into his car. And someone stole his safe containing $100,000 in cash.

"That was my retirement money," Hamilton said.

Hamilton said he knows who did it.

He said he knows how they did it.

But when asked if he ever expects to see his money again, Hamilton, tearfully, said no.

Hamilton said he's offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the thief or thieves.

The alleged heist took place on Friday, April 6.

Hamilton runs a small landscaping business and also cares for his 97-year-old mother.

Hamilton said he moved to Springfield to care for his mother about nine years ago.

Recently, his mother has needed additional help, so Hamilton hired a home healthcare worker for the mornings.

She was the girlfriend of one of his landscaping employees, court documents say, and she offered a lower hourly rate than what Hamilton had been paying.

The safe was covered by a blanket and tucked behind the living room couch, Hamilton said, and he sleeps on that couch every night.

The new home healthcare worker arrived for her first day of work the day the safe was stolen, documents say.

Hamilton and his employees had a variety of tasks to do that morning, including yard work and taking debris to a recycling center.

For a 30-minute window, the healthcare worker was left at Hamilton's home with only Hamilton's mother, who slept much of the day, documents say.

When Hamilton got back at about 11 a.m., he said the healthcare worker wanted to get paid and leave.

"She was very antsy," Hamilton said.

Hamilton left and did more landscaping work, he said, then came back home at about 2 p.m.

That's when he walked into the living room and was struck with disbelief.

The safe, which weighs well over 100 pounds, was gone, Hamilton said.

"This can't happen," Hamilton recalled thinking.

Hamilton said he called 911 and expected an immediate response.

Five hours passed before police arrived, he said.

"Guys, this is a hundred thousand dollars," Hamilton said he told the police. "This isn't peanuts."

Technically, it was $99,800, Hamilton said, but he typically kept an even hundred grand inside the safe.

The police took his information down.

Then, Hamilton was left at home, $99,800 poorer.

He said he thought briefly about suicide.

"I decided to get drunk that night," Hamilton said.

The next morning, he said police surrounded his home after a neighbor reported he was feeling suicidal.

Hamilton said he was still slightly drunk when he walked out into his garage to see an officer holding a shotgun.

According to Hamilton, it wasn't until Monday that a detective contacted him, and it took until Tuesday for the detective to come to his home.

"And then when he came over, he didn't believe I had ($100,000) in there."

According to court documents, the detective spoke with people who verified the existence of ten stacks of $10,000 inside the safe.

One of his neighbors, a former bank teller, told police that Hamilton sometimes asked her to hold his money, documents say. She said the bundles of cash appeared to be about $100,000.

Police took pictures of the carpet near where the safe had been, Hamilton said.

According to court documents, there was a unique shoe print in the carpet matching the shoes worn by the healthcare worker.

Police applied for and obtained a warrant to search the home of the healthcare worker.

Court documents say they seized electronics and receipts from her house, but no safe.

Police say they have presented a case to prosecutors, though it does not appear charges have been filed in the case yet.

Hamilton said when police began to seriously investigate the theft, it was already too late.

"I think they should've responded immediately," Hamilton said. "So, yeah. The police blew it as far as I'm concerned."

Hamilton said he believes the healthcare worker could have carried the safe by herself — "She's a big girl" — but she would have needed accomplices.

Someone had to hold onto his safe, Hamilton said, and a welder would have been needed to cut the safe open.

He believes one of the people involved will eventually turn on the others, but he'll never get his retirement money.

"If that doesn't break your heart," Hamilton said, "nothing will."

Why did Hamilton keep $100,000 in cash in a safe at his home?

Hamilton said the state of Arizona is after him for $80,000 in Medicaid payments for a child that's not his who is now in his 40s.

Hamilton said he knows the child is not his because he had a vasectomy.