Duo posing as pest control in Cape Coral theft arrested in Manatee County

Reporter: Michelle Alvarez
Published: Updated:
Laura and Sean Frank (CREDIT: Manatee County Sheriff’s Office)

Two people accused of posing as pest control to steal from a Southwest Florida home have been arrested.

Manatee County deputies arrested Laura and Sean Frank for stealing thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from condo residents there. Laura is Frank’s aunt.

Now a statewide investigation is underway.

Detectives say the pair came to a condo complex in Cape Coral dressed up like pest control workers and talked their way into a woman’s home. And that’s the same tactic they are accused of using in other places.

Manatee County deputies, working with Cape Coral police, said the pair ripped off Maysha Nash and got away with $1,500 to $2,000 worth of jewelry.

“I feel a little stupid at times when I think about letting them in. And then I also feel a sentimental attachment to the jewelry that I had,” Nash said recently. “Some of it was my mother’s. And I was going to pass it down to my children, of course.”

According to the arrest report, another woman let the two into her condo at Bayshore on the Lakes in Bradenton.

Both are now charged with theft from persons 65 years of age or older, coordinating with others in thefts over $3,000 and obstruction.

In both instances, the victims said they never contracted a pest control service.

According to Manatee County deputies, once the suspects were arrested, they found a pump sprayer as well as several pieces of jewelry in a trash can in the fourth-floor laundry room.

Laura was released on May 13 but Sean remains in custody.

According to Manatee County deputies, the Franks entered several other condos, but none of the residents at Bayshore on the Lakes reported anything stolen.

There is somewhat of a silver lining in all of this.

Cape Coral police said they recovered three pieces of jewelry which were given back to the victim.

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