An Abbotsford couple who have been living in a hotel since their home flooded in October are devastated at the loss of hundreds of precious photos stolen from a storage container on their property.
Trevor and Malerie Crump say they hope the thieves have either disposed of the photos and someone else has found them, or that the culprits will return them.
“We don’t care about the rest of the stuff (that was stolen). The stuff can be replaced. It’s the photos, the memories (that we want),” Trevor says.
The couple’s home on Glenn Mountain Drive was damaged in October, when Trevor says their washing machine on the second floor “blew up.”
The top level was flooded and the water seeped through the flooring and downstairs.
The couple and their three-year-old son Jude then moved into a hotel on Nov. 6 to allow a restoration company to come in and repair the damage.
Furniture and other belongings had to be temporarily removed from the home, but Trevor says their insurance company would not approve funding for a heated warehouse to store the goods.
Instead, they were told to use a locked storage container on their property.
Trevor says he discovered on Dec. 28 that the locks on the container had been removed, but he didn’t notice anything missing at the time, and the locks were replaced.
In mid-January, Malerie arrived on the property and discovered that the doors to the container were wide open.
At that point, they decided to move all their belongings back into the house. Most of their furniture was still there, but they began to notice numerous missing goods, such as kitchen items, clothes, shoes, their son’s books and 10 of Trevor’s watches.
But what hit them the hardest was the theft of a nightstand that had contained their wedding and honeymoon photo albums and an external computer hard drive with pictures from the last 13 years, including all their son’s baby photos and videos.
“Everything’s on there – his first crawl, his first steps, the first of everything,” Trevor said. “I’m beyond upset about it.”
Malerie says she just wants the hard drive back.
“I’m left with not one picture of my son as a baby.”
Trevor says they have filed a report with the Abbotsford Police Department and scoured local pawn shops and thrift stores.
Now they’re just hoping someone has come across the photos. They say they are even willing to provide a reward.
Anyone with information is asked to email Trevor at trevor@dmccontracting.ca.