Police and the Contra Costa Times are investigating how a newspaper hold list ended up in the hands of suspected burglars who used it to target homes while families were on vacation.

The Times reports that the list was recovered in Livermore earlier this month inside a car stolen from a Walnut Creek home. The home was included on the list. Two men were arrested in Livermore in connection with the burglary, and police say they were outside a second home they intended to burglarize.

On Jan. 30, the LA Times reported that four men were arrested on suspicion of burglarizing the homes of its subscribers who were on vacation.
The burglars allegedly stole $1 million in property over the last three years.

The unanswered question in both cases is how did the burglars get the list? Did they hack the newspapers’ computer systems or have help from an employee?