Is it true people in the prowled neighborhoods would find hidden ligatures in their homes?

Not even 24 hours after starting this thread, I open Det. Shelby's book, which I'm getting towards the end of, and as soon I start reading he talks about it immediately. A family in San Ramon (in the East Bay, east of Oakland a bit) in December of 78 was checking their house every morning and evening for anything amiss, and they found a coil of rope under the couch cushions. There were a couple other things amiss, so they were freaked out and called the cops. The way Shelby words it, it's kind of hard to tell if they were looking under their cushions because they had heard of that happening or not, but I think they were just looking through everything they possibly could think of and they hadn't heard of that ligature-under-cushions thing specifically. Like he says in the intro, he's not trying to tell anyone he's pro writer.

The cops sent them away for the night, and tried to stake out the house and catch him coming back to attack, but he didn't show up. They parked one of their cars next door to the house, which Shelby says would have been a dead giveaway. And JJD may have been watching this whole thing anyway, possibly.

Also their house backed up to a wooded area with some railroad tracks.

/r/EARONS Thread