The intruder even drank beer left in some of the vacation homes targeted around Webster Lake and tried on clothing.
"I've been on 19 years and I've never seen anybody actually moving in and living in somebody's residence like that," said Sgt. Chad Hill of the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department.
Alex Kupczynski was being held Wednesday on four preliminary charges of burglary. Bail was set at $100,000.
Police said the 31-year-old Syracuse resident picked vacation homes where the lack of tracks in the snow showed that no one had visited recently.
Investigators said their break came when the owner of a vacation home on the lake about 30 miles northwest of Fort Wayne found Kupczynski's wallet inside the pocket of a set of the homeowner's overalls.
On Jan. 20, officers said, they followed fresh footprints in the snow leading to another lake home - and found Kupczynski inside a closet.
Investigators were still trying to recover stolen property, state police Sgt. Trent Smith said.
Investigators believe at least four houses were broken into, although more burglaries might be found when the weather warms and homeowners return.
"He was just kinda running the gamut around the edges of the lake," Hill said.
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