An estate sale is a good way to get rid of unwanted items.  However, sometimes things end up badly.

Colorado police filed a report about an estate sale that went badly but the case was dropped for lack of suspects, according to Fox News in "Colorado house ransacked after estate sale mix-up."

The incident, which turned out to be a mix-up, occurred when Longmont resident Mary Andrews had a garage sale but did not manage to sell everything she had on offer.

That was not unusual for an estate sale.  However, before Andrews cleaned up all of the leftover items from her lawn, she left her house without locking her door. When she came home later, she found a lot of people inside her home taking everything that was not nailed down.

Why? An estate sale was supposed to be held two doors down from Andrews. People mistakenly believed that hers was the house for the estate sale. Furthermore, these people mistakenly believed that everything left over, which included the items in her house, were all left over and free for anyone who wanted them.

The good news here is that people who are having estate sales can expect very enthusiastic buyers, even if they are not giving the items away for free.  

Reference: Fox News (March 28, 2018) "Colorado house ransacked after estate sale mix-up."