Things never really go as we plan, do they? Last Wednesday night I was supposed to be on a plane to my interview at the small liberal arts college. My flight was cancelled around the time it was scheduled to depart because of weather. I arrived home at 6.15 only to find out that our house had been robbed during my absence.
They left the front door wide open but with the living room lights off. I cannot express in words how creepy it was to see this when I pulled up & parked in front of our house. I ran inside to see if they were still there. Spooky came right out and started crying at me. Anyone who knows my cat will recognize that this is a sign they were no longer there (she is terrified of strangers, but particularly noisy ones). I don’t think they’d been gone long, however, because the house wasn’t that cold yet. I called 911, and the police arrived about 10 minutes later. In the meantime, I called my mom, who called my landlady and Emily, my college friend who lives 5 minutes away.
They took our new tv, Hubby’s PS3, his newest PS3 game, the contents of my jewelry box and earring box, our cable remote control, the HD cables for the PS3 and tv, and a package from amazon.com that was sitting on the front step (I’d list the contents, but then my brothers would know what they’re getting for Christmas). Total value of items = $4000.
The police officer and I walked through the house, and as far as we can tell, they tried to come in the back door but couldn’t open it successfully. They’d bashed in a small window in the door, and had managed to unlock the door lock but not the deadbolt (thank goodness for that sticky, annoying deadbolt). So, they jimmied open the window of our bedroom instead (both the door and our bedroom window open up to our back porch), taking off the screen and knocking down our cats’ windowsill purch. At that point, they took one our blue pillowcases (wedding present, of course) and grabbed the jewelry. They opened our sweater trunk at the foot of our bed but there’s nothing to steal in there except sweaters! We had a light on a timer in the bedroom, and they turned it off. They also closed the window behind them. Then they went to the living room and took the playstation and tv. I guess they grabbed the package on the way out the front door, which as I mentioned already was left open. They also turned off the light left on a timer in the front room, but turned on the light in our sunroom, which was another clue something was wrong. I never leave on the light in that room.
I was stuck at home all day Thursday waiting for the cops to come and take fingerprints and such. I called the insurance company, the post office, and the cable company, and the banks to alert them for the possibility of identity theft. I don’t think they took any paperwork, but it’s still better to be safe than sorry. Thursday night, the Crime Scene cops came and dusted for prints, etc. They didn’t find any prints (not even Hubby’s or my prints!), despite the large amount of black powder they smeared around my bedroom. They did reveal, however:
- that the bedroom window’s screen had been torn off and the frame broken
- that the bedroom window had been pried open at the top and bottom with a crowbar (score one for Dr. Addled: I KNEW I hadn’t left the window unlocked, like the first cop had suggested!)
- that the’d broken the back door’s deadbolt when they tried to open it from the outside (i.e., by kicking the door). The deadbolt became stuck in the “locked” position, fortunately for me. I wonder how much more we would have lost if the thief had access to the back door instead of having to go out the front door?
I spent two nights at Emily’s before Hubby came home on Friday morning. We then spent the rest of the weekend trying to pick up the pieces and complete our inventory. Hubby’s mad and I’m just sad. Hubby wants to buy a handgun, and I’m not ready to go there yet. Regardless, as upset as Hubby and I are about our stuff, we’re just glad that there was minimal damage to the house, and that our cats are safe. The stuff is mostly replaceable; the items that can’t be replaced are heartbreaking to lose, but our safety and security are really all that matter in the long run.
My interview has been rescheduled for this week. The school was totally understanding and the search chair promised that nobody would hold this against me. I hope this is the case, and will post again once I’m back from the interview.
