Home Break-In dealing with loss and pain advice and prayers needed

[catholichusband]

Recently my home was broken into.

Items stolen included:

• my wife’s engagement ring and wedding band (which were in need of repair and were slated to go for repair in coming days)
  -my children’s baptism jewelry (& their Baptism candles!)
  -jewelry I received as a child for my baptism/Confirmation. (pendants, necklace, bracelet)
  -Items that had been given to us by other family members for safe keeping.
  -Other religious items including rosaries from Lourdes.

To add some further context we feel extreme sense of guilt over this as in retrospect we could have done a better job hiding these items, or installed a security system or gotten the ring repaired sooner etc…This is especially the case given that our van got broken into twice with thieves looking for change. We grabbed onto the idea that this must have been some kids out late doing something stupid and not much of a “real threat” rather than taking action. … so in all even though we are the victims we are carrying an extreme level of guilt over this as something that was likely preventable. We have not yet told our families about what happened. The older jewelry were all items obtained for special occasions, at great sacrifice and had been entrusted to us. I am deeply concerned about how they will take the news especially given some health conditions present (heart). I appreciate any and all prayers, advice etc… about how to move forward.

Thank-you and God Bless.

 

[joyfulandactive]

Please do not feel any guilt. The only guilty party is the person or persons who illegally broke into your home, violated the sanctity of the privacy of your family and stole from you!

Perhaps as well as installing any new safety features you could have a Mass said in your home to help restore peace to an understandably very upsetting situation. May God bless you and your family.

 

[Annie]

I am assuming you spoke with the police about all this. (If not, do so!)

You might try checking out pawn shops or any other place which will give money for things like consignment shops, gold-buying shops, etc. See if you see any of your things at those.

We knew someone whose son was stealing their music CDs and selling them to a nearby store. They had noticed that the cds were missing but hadn’t known they could be sold till they found their own cds in the shop.

If the relatives are very elderly and don’t want to see the belongings again, just know they are safe… would you have to tell them?

 

[catholichusband]

Perhaps as well as installing any new safety features you could have a Mass said in your home to help restore peace to an understandably very upsetting situation.

Thank-you. My wife had also suggested this mass or blessing. Will try to look into this.

 

[catholichusband]

I am assuming you spoke with the police about all this. (If not, do so!)

Yes done. But not very useful. Case assigned to an officer who has been out of the office for 2 weeks now. I have one potential lead and I doubt that they have even looked into it.

You might try checking out pawn shops or any other place which will give money for things like consignment shops, gold-buying shops, etc. See if you see any of your things at those.

We live in a big City… there are literally hundreds of pawn shops / cash for gold places. Some pendants were unique (from our homeland) and unlikely to have a market here… I imagine they could be sold to be melted down. … So I really have no idea where to begin on a search.

If the relatives are very elderly and don’t want to see the belongings again, just know they are safe… would you have to tell them?

We now have a security system, which is odd for us. Only a matter of time and we are very anxious about how to handle this conversation. Appreciate any advice on this especially given some health conditions involved.

 

[Annie]

We live in a big City… there are literally hundreds of pawn shops / cash for gold places. Some pendants were unique (from our homeland) and unlikely to have a market here… I imagine they could be sold to be melted down. … So I really have no idea where to begin on a search.

Consider the minds of the burglars. Did the burglary seem “professional” or more like teens/twenties looking to make a quick buck?

If the latter, consider where they might have come from, probably not from far away, possibly in your own neighborhood, but if there is a rough area quite close by, maybe from there.

Start looking in that direction, every place within a sort of triangle with your house at the apex and the neighborhood as the base, and broaden your search from there.

If you have no clue, just go around in ever-widening circles with your house at the center.

The chance you’ll find the things is low, but since they have great sentimental value for you, I think it is worth checking the places out. Don’t let them know what you are doing, just browse to see what is there.

Check the gold and silver buying places first. I have no idea how they operate, but they sound more likely for someone to go to, especially if they didn’t steal anything else.

Don’t let the number of places in your entire city bother you, but if it seemed at all professional, see if you can find out information about burglaries in your city over the past few months. Are they all in one area? Focus there. Are they spread out? Start in the center of that area.