A car prowl in Highland Park stole more than just belongings – it stole precious memories that were all Mary‘s daughter and grandchildren had left of their husband/father, killed in the Middle East. Mary says it took her a while to realize that a public plea just might somehow help bring back that one item full of memories – one particular hard drive:
Last month my daughter’s Suburban was broken into when she and the
babies spent the night at my house. When I opened the curtains in the morning I saw that the back hatch was open. She ran outside, looked in and instantly started crying – someone had stolen EVERYTHING from in it. Two car seats and all the stuff that goes with them, a large emergency kit she had just put together, the dog’s leases and toys, yard tools that she borrowed from me, the brand new Easter presents for the kids, a bunch of toys and of course all the electronics. They even took the kids’ cups that were in the back seat, some miscellaneous clothes that were tossed in and all the kids’ snacks that were in the glove box. Unbelievable.The absolute worst part – they took two external hard drives. She had them in the console and was taking them somewhere to have one copied onto the other. The one she was copying belonged to her husband who died in Afghanistan last year. On it were the last photos and movies he took of his life with his military friends, what he was doing and feeling on his 9-month tour and the last photos of his life. The people who have this hard drive have no idea what they have done to my daughter – they took his life from her. Again.
I don’t think this was just some random kids prowling the streets and checking for unlocked car doors, these people must have had a large vehicle to take all this stuff away and while they tried to jimmy the ignition, they just succeeding in scratching up the steering column. We called the police and of course there is nothing they can do, this happens almost every night they say. Unfortunately the magnitude of this does not even register with them, it’s just another car prowl.
I know asking for the hard drives back is a stretch to say the least but I have to try. And of course if they get returned there will be no questions asked. Thank you.
You probably remember Mary’s son-in-law: Navy Petty Officer Jarod Newlove, the West Seattleite killed in Afghanistan ten months ago.
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