On Sunday, police may have found a break in those cases as hundreds of men's shoes were found along Big Elk Creek in Maryland.
Nathan Mulburn lives near the creek and discovered the shoes.
"We came by the creek…and we saw duffle bags," Mulburn said.
At first, he found it odd, but then recalled reports of the shoe bandit.
"I remember reading in the paper about a shoe bandit, so I decided to call Newark police. I rode down to Newark police and told them about it," Mulburn said.
Newark police have been searching for the shoe bandit since late last year when he targeted a number of homes on the University of Delaware campus.
Just before Christmas, University of Delaware student Justin Coolhan's shoes were stolen. The bad guy left behind the TVs, laptops, and other pricey valuables, but took the shoes and also photos of men.
Police are still trying to determine if these shoes are the stolen ones, but as the old saying goes, if the shoe fits.
"All men's shoes, I've seen a lot of trash dumped on the road before…but never all shoes; you guys do the math," Mulburn said.
Police have no suspects, but the shoe thief may be driving a yellow Mitsubishi with Delaware tags.
