Thieves broke into an upscale Aspen Heights home earlier this month and stole a variety of valuable family items.
However, what the culprits stole will be difficult to trade or sell as almost all the items were “unique”, making them practically useless for the thieves, noted a family spokesperson.
“They were not your typical things people would take,” said the spokesperson, who asked not to be identified. “It is our hope that if someone is approached to buy it, or listed for sale somewhere, they will say, ‘Oh, I read that it was stolen somewhere and we should contact the RCMP'.”
The family believes the burglary to their home occurred in the early morning hours of Jan. 6. A motorist driving by noticed a door to the home was smashed in and called local RCMP. The family was out of town at the time but was immediately contacted about the burglary.
When police and the family arrived at the home to survey the crime scene, many “impossible to replace items” were missing, said the spokesperson.
The stolen items included a full-sized handmade wooden kayak, two antique banjos, a number of antique bellows-style cameras, a tall round African wooden coffee table with hand-carved skulls, a number of paintings and prints of mountains and river scenes, and a small carved wooden sail mounted on stone.
“It was quite unique,” said the spokesperson of the kayak. “It dismantles in three parts. It is portable. It is very compact. You can throw it into a car. It would have taken him (owner) hundreds of hours to do because it is wooden and hand built. There are some distinctive markings on it, with some Inuit-type drawings on the front and rear hatch covers that were fibreglassed in the wood.”
The RCMP continues to investigate the burglary. The owners contacted their insurance company and have made a loss claim for $8,000.
“The other thing too, it is not even about the invasion and loss of privacy. We have also put in the cost of adding more motion detectors and now we have installed a security system,” said the spokesperson. “It is very disruptive emotionally to have to lock yourself in and out. You really have that feeling of being violated, which everyone does in these cases.
“The community has to heighten its awareness. In a small community like Innisfail a lot of people still leave without locking their doors or vehicles,” added the spokesperson. “You just have to be aware and if you think something looks suspicious, it probably is. All you have to do is slow down, maybe stare at them and it might disrupt a burglary in progress.”
If anyone has any further information about the Jan. 6 Aspen Heights break-in, he or she is asked to contact Innisfail RCMP at 403-227-3342 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
