James Blanchard told Channel 6 his parents hired Josh Christian to build an additional room with an easily accessible bath and shower. They didn't have a contract, however, and when Christian asked for additional money Blanchard said his mother handed it over.
"The contractor worked four days and then he told my mother he needed $10,000 to create an account at a building supply store," Blanchard said. "She wrote him a check and he cashed it. Two weeks later she called me and told me he would no longer take her phone calls."
Blanchard told Channel 6 the contractor essentially built him an insulated box with no doors or windows. He told Channel 6 Christian disappeared with $14,000 and he had to pay over $40,000 for another contractor to fix the mess. Blanchard said he tracked down Christian's number and showed our reporter text messages where Christian promised to make progress and finish the job. Christian never did finish, however, and Blanchard had to find someone else to complete the project. On September 19th, Blanchard finally made a report with the Coryell County Sheriff's Department and the department opened a case.
That was nine months ago.
"They said they were going to handle it," Blanchard said. "They just keep saying that they are working on it.
Channel 6 called both the Coryell County Sheriff's Department and Coryell County District Attorney Dusty Boyd to find out if the investigation is still active.
"It is an open pending investigation by the Coyrell County Sheriff's Office," Boyd said. "When it comes to criminal cases that have the color of some civil issues, we have to be very careful in insuring there was a criminal act involved versus a contract violation."
Boyd told Channel 6 there can still be a criminal investigation even if there was no written contract involved.
Coryell County Sheriff Scott Williams told Channel 6 his department is still working to track witnesses in the case and they are working to get all the information the District Attorney's Office has asked for.