Kelly Mayer Dearborn County Sheriff's Dept.   Kevin MacKenzie Dearborn County Sheriff's Dept.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – A Hidden Valley couple is accused of following delivery trucks and stealing packages as they were dropped off at homes around Dearborn County.

That same couple is also accused of running a meth lab in their home where their children, ages 7 and 4, lived with them.

The investigation began Monday when Dearborn County Sheriff’s deputies were called to an attempted theft of a package from a home on Stateline Road.

A woman had attempted to take a package off the home’s porch when the female homeowner, who was working in a business across the street and noticed the activity, confronted her. The suspect told the would-be victim that the package was dropped off at the wrong residence by mistake, but gave it back. She left in a maroon Chevrolet Impala heading south on Stateline Road.

Deputies found the Impala parked at an apartment home on Fairway Drive. They spoke with the car’s owner, Kelly R. Mayer, 26, and obtained a search warrant for the apartment which was being leased by her sister, Kassandra Noel. Mayer’s boyfriend, Kevin MacKenzie, 30, also lived there.

Inside, investigators found numerous cardboard shipping boxes and packaging materials in plain view. What appeared to be an active methamphetamine lab was found in the garage and items used in making meth were found in the living area of the apartment. Jars and bags containing meth were also located.

When questioned by police, Noel advised that she was unaware of any drug activity in her home. She said Mayer and MacKenzie kept the doors to the garage and their bedrooms locked. Noel claimed she did not have a key to those doors because the locks had been changed by her roommates. Noel admitted to purchasing pseudoephedrine – a key ingredient in manufacturing methamphetamine – for her sister on three different occasions.

Investigators also learned that Mayer and MacKenzie’s two young children lived in the apartment with them.

Mayer and MacKenzie were arrested and charged with Dealing in Methamphetamine (Class B felony) and two counts of Neglect of a Dependant (Class C felony). They remain held at the Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center as their bond amounts have not yet been assigned.