Crook leaves wedding party stranded in foreign country
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PUYALLUP, Wash. -- Katrina Tesoriero planned her wedding day for months.
"A lot of prayer, and classes and study and preparation for it. My family came all the way from Australia," she said.
After a perfect ceremony in the groom's hometown of Sumner on Saturday, the family celebrated at a Puyallup restaurant.
"Everything went so well, so smoothly, and then, all of a sudden, this came out of nowhere," said Katrina's brother, Nick Tesoriero. "Our van just got broken into."
A thief smashed in the window and stole more than just their luggage. The crook also made off with passports and credit cards.
Katrina had to cancel her wedding night plans and instead made calls to cancel her stolen credit cards.
Her pregnant sister, Sophie Grendenning, had her passport, plane tickets and medications stolen. She's now in limbo in a foreign country with no identification.
"Its been a debacle and a massive headache," she said.
A day after the theft, bridesmaid Anne-Marie Jensen was still wearing her bridesmaid's dress from the ceremony.
"All of my luggage was stolen," she said.
Instead of vacationing, now the Tesoriero family just wants to go home to Australia.
"It's quite upsetting for us," Grendenning said.
But they can't leave. First they must fly to California to try to replace their stolen passports.
"A lot of prayer, and classes and study and preparation for it. My family came all the way from Australia," she said.
After a perfect ceremony in the groom's hometown of Sumner on Saturday, the family celebrated at a Puyallup restaurant.
"Everything went so well, so smoothly, and then, all of a sudden, this came out of nowhere," said Katrina's brother, Nick Tesoriero. "Our van just got broken into."
A thief smashed in the window and stole more than just their luggage. The crook also made off with passports and credit cards.
Katrina had to cancel her wedding night plans and instead made calls to cancel her stolen credit cards.
Her pregnant sister, Sophie Grendenning, had her passport, plane tickets and medications stolen. She's now in limbo in a foreign country with no identification.
"Its been a debacle and a massive headache," she said.
A day after the theft, bridesmaid Anne-Marie Jensen was still wearing her bridesmaid's dress from the ceremony.
"All of my luggage was stolen," she said.
Instead of vacationing, now the Tesoriero family just wants to go home to Australia.
"It's quite upsetting for us," Grendenning said.
But they can't leave. First they must fly to California to try to replace their stolen passports.
Question, how are they going to be able to fly to California to get their replacement passport if they have no identification?
Welcome to America, where people steal precious things from Good Samaritans and wedding celebrants. I am guessing they won't be vacationing here anytime soon. Makes me sick
Just like what I said in a previous story; Not surprised by it. These dirtbags who steal just don't care about anything but their own personal damn greedy desires. Just sickens me.
Komo - We're a bunch of Australians in Vancouver Canada -Â how can we help?
I spent a couple of months in Italy and you just did not leave anything in your car. In fact, you did not even lock your car cause this just would say that you are trying to hide something. It was reality there and it is becoming reality here, and worse, accepted. I wish these people well in getting home.Â
@Beam_Me_Up Well this is Italy you're talking about, same country that convicted Seismologists for failing to predict an earthquake.
There is a tiny little known about trailer park (think travel trailers and rvs) not far from this restaurant, and there is a short cut along a trail that leads from the parking lot to the trailer park, this trailer park is filled with druggies and theives (no joke)- I suggest someone check along the trail and the trailer park for any of the missing items- I found out about all this when I had my car broken into in the same parking lot a few years ago.Â
This is absolutely horrible. I sure hope they are able to get new passports expedited so they can get home.  Â
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I hope others can take a lesson from this. Don't leave valuables, needed medications, or important documents in your unattended vehicle EVER.  Its an easy crime for the criminals and devastating for the victims.
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Maybe if the thieves see this newscast, they might have half a heart and send the stuff (at least the documents & meds) back to them. I know its a stretch, but worth a shot.
I am sorry for the victims and I pray that they are able to get things sorted out soon so they can go home
My heart goes out to your family......  however this is just another notch in things getting out of hand in this state
 @ufrigginkiddin Leaving valuables in the car isn't something you do in ANY country, any state, any city, anywhere.  It's common sense.
@ufrigginkiddin Right, itâs the state, because, thieves breaking into cars is a new thing. Car prowlers make quick work of what they do based on what they can see. Fact is, had they not left their valuables in the car, most likely in plain sight, this most likely would not have happened. I feel for them, but they were not mugged at gun point, they left an open invitation for the crooks and beings crooks, they helped themselves.
Like too many other people, I have also been a victim of car theft even when reasonable precautions were taken to keep items hidden from view with the car parked in a 'good' area, locked secure with a top-of-the-line car security system activated. And like so many others, I've also found out the hard way that even if you go beyond all reasonable precautions to protect yourself and your property, you still end up being victimized. Some other countries don' t have crime problems on this scale of magnitude and I think as a society we need to take a serious look at these and ask questions and learn how they address these issues. Take Singapore for example. High urban population density but you just don't find rampent out of control lawlessness and drug dealing. Why? And can we learn something from them?
 @Commentator Remember the caning?  They dont' fool around there.
 @John Bailo  @Commentator I bet that idiot remembers his caning even better than we do! But I bet he doesn't treasure the memory even half as much as the rest of us do. :^D
How many time have we been warned about leaving important items in an unoccupied vehicle? This is just one more warning to others never to leave such in any place where it can be stolen by scum bags. Hopefully the police will find and detain the scum quickly, but that is dependent upon whatever evidential trail these scum may leave behind, which usually isn't much. Hopefully also, that the family doesn't encounter unending bureaucracy in solving this dilemma.
If they catch the thief, I vote they sentence be dropping them on the farthest eastern island in the Aleutian islands chain, with only a survival suit, fishing pole, line and 1 hook (oh and a knife to kill something [hopefully themselves!!]) Let em feel what this family is dealing with 1000 time over!!! Thieves and vandals are some of the lowest forms of garbage we tolerate in society!