Is it possible for headphones to work too well?
Tom McElvoy, 79, and his wife, Peggy, were at their Texas home watching reruns of "JAG" on the night of July 2nd. At the same time -- and less than 20 feet away -- a burglar was busy ransacking the couple's bedroom, stealing a lifetime's worth of jewelry that Peggy had received from her doting husband.
Despite the lights being on and the burglar breaking glass to enter through a side door, reports Fox 4, the thief went unnoticed because Peggy and Tom were watching TV with their headphones on.
"We have the headphones on because it makes the voices clearer," McElvoy explained to the Star Telegram.
Only after the couple turned the TV off and headed for bed did they discover that their bedroom door was locked from the inside and that they'd been robbed. The McElvoys told CW33 that their losses topped $20,000 in stolen cash and jewelry, including the first ring Tom gave Peggy when their relationship started 59 years ago.
"The ring he first bought me. Our first ring," Peggy told Fox4. "That means so much to me."
"I hope they have a pang of conscience sometime in their life, because I worked for what they got. They didn't do a damn thing," said McElvoy.
The Daily Mail notes that homeowners insurance will only cover $7,000 of the losses. Additionally, the McElvoy's daughter has been canvassing local pawn shops in an effort to find some of the jewelry.