Published: Thursday, December 29, 2011
Christmas burglar steals jewelry, but not spirit
A Marysville woman is missing jewelery that had more sentimental than monetary value after a Christmas break-in.
MARYSVILLE -- Crooks don't always take Christmas off.
Lynne Kramer has learned that all too well.
When the Marysville woman, 69, returned home Monday from spending Christmas with friends, her house was bitterly cold and Chloe, her cat, paced nervously and refused to be petted. The sliding glass door leading to her back yard was shattered. Much of the jewelry she kept in her bedroom was gone.
"It's that feeling of violation," Kramer said. "It's a feeling that they stole another part of the innocence within me."
Kramer felt that same mix of anger and sadness on Christmas in 1975.
That evening, she returned to find her apartment in Everett had been set on fire. Investigators later learned that someone stole several items from her home before starting a fire in her Christmas tree. No one ever was arrested.
Kramer, a single mom with two children at the time, lost just about everything she owned in the fire and she didn't have insurance.
The burglary earlier this week was hard to fathom.
"I never dreamed it would happen again," she said.
This time, she's counting her blessings that it was just jewelry. She's also thankful for supportive neighbors and friends.
Many pieces of her missing jewelry had sentimental value, including the gold band placed on her finger when she was a baby nearly seven decades ago, her mom's 1931 class ring from Granite Falls High School and her father's gold wedding band.
She is taking inventory of her lost items for insurance and the police. More than 200 pieces were stolen. Roughly a third were heirlooms.
It wasn't an extravagant collection, but each piece had special meaning.
"We are not talking Elizabeth Taylor here," she said.
She filed a report with the Marysville Police Department and has called several pawn shops.
Marysville police Lt. Jeff Goldman said it is hard to know what might happen to the jewelry.
The police department has been working closely with pawn shops to clamp down on thieves trying to move stolen goods, Goldman said.
Detectives also monitor social media sites, such as Craigslist, and have noticed fewer attempts to sell stolen jewelry online, he said.
One growing concern is about jewelry dealt to gold distributors, particularly transactions that are done through the mail, he said.
"It can be fairly anonymous," Goldman said.
Kramer took many precautions. Her doors were deadbolted shut. Her garage requires a code to open. She had sticks in place in the windows and sliding glass door to block intruders.
Kramer, a certified medical assistant at Group Health for 27 years, said she isn't looking for sympathy.
"I'm not going to let these people set me back," she said. "I'm not going to let them win. They can take my jewelry but they are not going to take my spirit."
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
Lynne Kramer has learned that all too well.
When the Marysville woman, 69, returned home Monday from spending Christmas with friends, her house was bitterly cold and Chloe, her cat, paced nervously and refused to be petted. The sliding glass door leading to her back yard was shattered. Much of the jewelry she kept in her bedroom was gone.
"It's that feeling of violation," Kramer said. "It's a feeling that they stole another part of the innocence within me."
Kramer felt that same mix of anger and sadness on Christmas in 1975.
That evening, she returned to find her apartment in Everett had been set on fire. Investigators later learned that someone stole several items from her home before starting a fire in her Christmas tree. No one ever was arrested.
Kramer, a single mom with two children at the time, lost just about everything she owned in the fire and she didn't have insurance.
The burglary earlier this week was hard to fathom.
"I never dreamed it would happen again," she said.
This time, she's counting her blessings that it was just jewelry. She's also thankful for supportive neighbors and friends.
Many pieces of her missing jewelry had sentimental value, including the gold band placed on her finger when she was a baby nearly seven decades ago, her mom's 1931 class ring from Granite Falls High School and her father's gold wedding band.
She is taking inventory of her lost items for insurance and the police. More than 200 pieces were stolen. Roughly a third were heirlooms.
It wasn't an extravagant collection, but each piece had special meaning.
"We are not talking Elizabeth Taylor here," she said.
She filed a report with the Marysville Police Department and has called several pawn shops.
Marysville police Lt. Jeff Goldman said it is hard to know what might happen to the jewelry.
The police department has been working closely with pawn shops to clamp down on thieves trying to move stolen goods, Goldman said.
Detectives also monitor social media sites, such as Craigslist, and have noticed fewer attempts to sell stolen jewelry online, he said.
One growing concern is about jewelry dealt to gold distributors, particularly transactions that are done through the mail, he said.
"It can be fairly anonymous," Goldman said.
Kramer took many precautions. Her doors were deadbolted shut. Her garage requires a code to open. She had sticks in place in the windows and sliding glass door to block intruders.
Kramer, a certified medical assistant at Group Health for 27 years, said she isn't looking for sympathy.
"I'm not going to let these people set me back," she said. "I'm not going to let them win. They can take my jewelry but they are not going to take my spirit."
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.
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