Stolen

Our house was broken into this week. I came home and found doors open and our bedroom ransacked. The thieves stole my jewelry (most of it belonging to my great-grandma and grandma), our small digital camera (they didn't find Chris' SLR thankfully), Chris' bass guitar and a few other items. The police believe they have caught the two teenagers who did it, as they tried to sell the guitar back to Guitar Center where we bought it. The salesperson looked up the serial number on the guitar and gave us a call before buying it, and once we said the guitar was stolen, the police came and arrested the two kids. We were able to recover my pearl earrings and a few gold chains, but nothing else was on them at the time. Of course they deny everything and say they bought the stuff off a guy named George they met on the street.

We are still trying to figure out what all is missing. Because we are still in the process of moving in, very few things are where they should be. It's hard to take inventory. We do have insurance that will cover our losses, minus the $500 deductable. This is great for the digital camera and compact flash cards that were stolen, but much of the jewelry that was stolen was irreplacable. Our original wedding bands, the amethyst necklace from my great-grandma, these things just can't be replaced. I still have to go and check the local pawn shops just in case by some miracle they sold them. Although I doubt it, as the arresting officer told me that one of the kids was trying to get gold he could melt down so he could get gold teeth.

They went through tremendous efforts to break into the house. The police identified 3 attempted points of entry: the bathroom window using a shovel as a wedge, the sliding glass door to our bedroom which the derailed but still couldn't open due to a separate lock on the bottom rail, the garage door which they took the door knob off but still couldn't get in because it's got a deadbolt from the inside. The successful entry point was the garage window, which they broke and climbed through. They then took an axe and crow bar to the door into the kitchen and managed to break their way in, despite the deadbolt. They left most of the house untouched except our bedroom. I think they were looking for cash in our drawers as all of our clothes were scattered about the room. They didn't have any luck with the cash part though, Chris and I have very little cash on hand, as we have become accustomed to using our checkcard for just about everything.

Anyway, all things considered it turned out ok. We lost some stuff, but at least they caught them and we were able to recover a few things. I am left feeling vulnerable, though. I do think it was just a chance thing and I don't feel incredibly unsafe - just less trusting. And that makes me sad.