Saratoga Springs Gets Some TV Time in the Solving of a Crime Like No Other

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Spa City was the fictional setting in an episode of the NCIS TV series which aired on CBS March 3.  

The episode, titled “Close to Home,” tells the story of a 14-year-old girl who claims to have discovered a satchel filled with $35,000 in cash behind a library dumpster. 

Following an investigation by detectives, the found money is traced back 15 years to being part of a $5 million bank heist by The Saratoga Spector – “some guy who slipped through the back door of the Saratoga Springs Bank and single-handedly stole $5 million and then disappeared without a trace,” according to the detectives. 

The investigate team reads all about the “Saratoga Spector” in a 2010 copy of “The Saratoga Register” newspaper, which is brought up on their office computer screens. 

“Never before has any town in upstate New York or perhaps even the world experienced a crime quite like this,” gushes the lede of the article titled: Saratoga Specter Strikes! 

The main suspect quickly becomes the owner of a Saratoga Springs heating & cooling company – “We Put The VA in HVAC” is their slogan, but the investigation goes sideways after a search for the suspect finds him with a bag over his head in the closet of his ransacked apartment. 

The mystery does eventually get solved and most everyone lives happily ever after.