By Luke Voogt
“Heartless” thieves have stolen letters a young mother wrote to her family before dying of cancer, prompting a plea for their return from her brother.
The theft from a Newtown home in broad daylight last Tuesday had devastated the family, said Evan, who wished not to disclose his surname.
“(My sister) had a long fight with cancer over the last five years and passed away last year, so it was quite traumatic for the family,” he said.
“It’s rocked my parents pretty hard. We tried to move on from things that have happened in the past and this has … brought up some memories and that for them.”
An unknown number of thieves broke into the Sherbourne Tce house via a kitchen window between 10.15am and 1.30pm on 11 June.
They stole jewellery including engagement and wedding rings, along with sealed letters the young mother-of-two had written to her family before her death last September.
Her parents had planned to eventually open their daughter’s letters, Evan said.
“The monetary value is probably not too high,” he said.
“If you could just get them back to us or drop them off somewhere so we can get them, that would be fantastic.”
Evan also pleaded for the thieves to return jewellery his sister had worn up until her death.
The thieves stole pearl necklaces, Pandora necklaces and bracelets, gold chains, pearls and opals, a Nikon camera, an Olympus camera, an IPad, an e-book reader and hearing aids.
They also stole a pink shopping cart that they dumped in North Geelong, according to Geelong Crime Investigation Unit Detective Senior Constable Nikki Kowalski.
“It’s highly likely someone may have seen something, especially in the North Geelong area where that cart was later located by police.”
Det Sen Const Kowalski described the crime as “heartless”.
“We deal with a lot of high-volume crime, burglaries and theft from motor vehicles but there’s always those jobs that pull on your heartstrings a bit,”
“I think when you’ve got a beautiful family that have had things like this stolen, it’s just despicable behaviour not to return them if you can see this or hear this today.”
Police had obtained CCTV footage from nearby locations and were continuing to canvass for more footage, Det Sen Const Kowalski said.
Given the time of the burglary it was “highly likely” someone suspicious in the area “might have caught someone’s eye or someone’s attention”, she said.
Det Sen Const Kowalski urged anyone with information to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
