Burglar steals mother's cherished mementos of teen who died
MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. -- A burglar ransacked the drawers and jewelry boxes of a Maple Valley family that's still coping with the death of their 16-year-old daughter.
Tamara Harris' home is filled with pictures and mementos of her daughter Sabrina, who died two years ago. Since then, Harris has kept the jewelry and gifts her daughter loved close.
Until burglars broke in Friday afternoon.
"When they broke in, that they would know that something had to have happened here," Harris said.
A break-in at home isn't easy to handle. This time is different.
"(The burglars) were watching. I'm sure they watched when I left," Harris said.
After work on Friday, Harris returned to her home to find glass everywhere.
The burglar didn't take much, just what matters most.
"Oh my God, they took everything of hers," Harris said.
Heading upstairs to steal jewelry, the burglar had to pass a photo of Sabrina.
"I just feel like I've lost her all over again," Harris said.
Sabrina was a dazzling singer and actress. At just 16, she knew how to command the stage and make an impression.
"She was a friend to everyone," Harris said. "She loved life. She really did."
Until February, 2010 when she complained of pain and fainting. It was a rare, undetected blood disease.
"Her blood clots just kept coming back and so we lost her," Harris said. "She fought for like, eight hours."
Just eight hours from going to the hospital to passing away.
Now, the costume jewelry from plays, the aquamarine birthstones, the treasured gifts from daughter to mother are gone.
"One of the last necklaces that she gave me was on Mother's Day -- the last Mother's Day that she was here," Harris said.
One small bracelet remains -- a chain with charms memorializing Sabrina. It's small comfort when prayers haven't always been enough.
"I know it's just things, but they're things that are meaningful," Harris said.
Harris hopes word will spread about the burglary and the jewelry will be returned. She says she doesn't even want to know who did it, she just wants her daughter's rings and necklaces back.
Tamara Harris' home is filled with pictures and mementos of her daughter Sabrina, who died two years ago. Since then, Harris has kept the jewelry and gifts her daughter loved close.
Until burglars broke in Friday afternoon.
"When they broke in, that they would know that something had to have happened here," Harris said.
A break-in at home isn't easy to handle. This time is different.
"(The burglars) were watching. I'm sure they watched when I left," Harris said.
After work on Friday, Harris returned to her home to find glass everywhere.
The burglar didn't take much, just what matters most.
"Oh my God, they took everything of hers," Harris said.
Heading upstairs to steal jewelry, the burglar had to pass a photo of Sabrina.
"I just feel like I've lost her all over again," Harris said.
Sabrina was a dazzling singer and actress. At just 16, she knew how to command the stage and make an impression.
"She was a friend to everyone," Harris said. "She loved life. She really did."
Until February, 2010 when she complained of pain and fainting. It was a rare, undetected blood disease.
"Her blood clots just kept coming back and so we lost her," Harris said. "She fought for like, eight hours."
Just eight hours from going to the hospital to passing away.
Now, the costume jewelry from plays, the aquamarine birthstones, the treasured gifts from daughter to mother are gone.
"One of the last necklaces that she gave me was on Mother's Day -- the last Mother's Day that she was here," Harris said.
One small bracelet remains -- a chain with charms memorializing Sabrina. It's small comfort when prayers haven't always been enough.
"I know it's just things, but they're things that are meaningful," Harris said.
Harris hopes word will spread about the burglary and the jewelry will be returned. She says she doesn't even want to know who did it, she just wants her daughter's rings and necklaces back.
I hate thieves. Liars and thieves. Nothing good about them. When we were hungry and needed help we didn't steal we got help.Â
I hope this story goes out to all pawn shops, I'll be watching Ebay, it would be nice for better descriptions of some of the articles of jewelry. I really hope they are caught and sentencing is not taken lightly. Not just for this family but for all of us who have been robbed of our memories, security and overall well being, and to those who inevitably will become a victim of burglary/theft/robbery.
My heart just clenched.Â
Hugs to all of you who have lost a child. There are words for people who lose their wives, husbands, they are widows or widowers, there are no words for someone who has lost their child. I don't think there is anything that could possibly describe that anyways.Â
That being said, return the items you pieces of garbage. My loving thoughts only go so far, as with many of us. Someone stole the laptop of my daughter's best friend who was killed at 12yrs old. Part of me is glad I didn't find them, part of me would have happily spent a few hours in jail. Totally worth beating the daylights out of them.
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I agree with the comments below! Return it all!
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I am a best friend of Tammy, she was there for me when I lost my beautiful daughter Ashlee Jacobs in 2007 on Mothers Day. A drunk driver speeding took from us we will never be the same the pain is forever, and what seems so unreal is 16 months after my daughters death we were burglarized also. The meth heads or who ever they are took all my daugter things, e.g. gifts from her to me, her baby jewerly you name it they took it. I came home to the same exact thing Tammy did. I can feel the pain all over, and I certainly haven't got over what I went through. The thieves have no idea what they have done to us. I also have pictures and memorials of my daughter all over , but thieves don't have souls or any care for who they rob. It's all about what they can get ... pure evil
 @lostmydaughteralso Hugs to all of you. I can't imagine. So much death surrounding us everyday. Take heart, I'm a total stranger and cry for you all. I lost my daughter's best friend, she was like my own, I wish she was mine, she would still be here. It's been going on 3 years and the pain is as fresh as the day I saw her little body in the casket.
I'm so sorry.
 @lostmydaughteralso Please take the "like" as hugs and condolences; I'm so sorry you are going through that!Â
 @lostmydaughteralso Hugs to you guys. Junkies have no souls.Â
I'm so sorry..I lost my daughter in August and know the pain i'm in..This does nothing but brings it all back again...I hope someone anyone knows these thugs and at least gives her the stuff that was her daughters.
 @pammy4462 Must be why I'm so depressed last couple of days. I've been thinking about her, I have a picture and a primrose I planted..funny thing that primrose NEVER stops blooming. During the ice storm the flowers were covered in ice, and still it was fine and continues to bloom. I look at it in awe and feel a sense of peace, a bit of the unknown reaching out to me.
Please, someone, do NOT tell me there is some special hybrid, it would ruin everything.. ;)
 @pammy4462 Many positive thoughts and hugs, and tears..and soon laughter, healing laughter and light.
 @pammy4462 Sorry for your loss! Hugs and positive thoughts your way.Â
My prayers go out to the family, hopefully some if now of her belongings are returned; maybe an extra bonus, the POS will be caught and punished.Â
Until meth, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and oxycodone are legalized and distributed for free to those who wish to use it expect more of the same.
@dorimonsonfan That has to be the stupidest thing I've read on Komo ever...
 @dorimonsonfan Making excuses for the thieves?
This so isn't a news story. Â People get burgled constantly. Â The police are handcuffed by policies enacted to coddle activists and to compensate for the bad police that the union contract doesn't allow removing. Â The judiciary is limited by restrictions put in place to counter the fact that whites are under-represented as felons... if you assume every demographic commits felons equally. Â So yes, this area has a real property-crime problem.
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The only "newsey" bit here is that there was some emotional value. Â BFD. Â Every theft imparts emotional impact. Â Until Seattle-ites come out in favor of stronger law and crime enforcement, that detail is merely collateral damage. Â Not a speci more.
 @TCat Actually this is special...this girl had over 1,200 people at her funeral and had a tremendous impact on the lives of so many. Her extended family (who will remain nameless) has also had a tremendous impact on the community/state. This was more than just a story about a burglary and I am thankful they shared it.  You need to examine your heart!Â
 @valleyfam Heart isn't news.   The first time your toddler calls you momma isn't news.  And heart isn't actionable; any laws punishing emotional outcomes rather than actions have always been disasterous.  Perhaps you need to examine your head.
Your head is the one who need  to be examined.  You need to get a life while your at it and find  things to fill that emptiness in your brain. Â
 @TCat I'm proud to be a part of a community that cares! Since it appears you are having difficulty grasping the meaning of this story, this is not just about a thief. This is about a mother's memories of her lost daughter that will forever be tainted by the selfish actions of another person. There is no way that thief did not know what he was taking. And there is nothing save returning those items that will fix it..
 @TCat I really hope no one ever takes anything of yours that is precious to you. But I doubt after reading your cold cruel comment , you have anything precious.
 @MyIdeas Grow up and grow a pair.  The point is that any burglary steals something precious.  Plus your sense of security.  I've been stolen from.  It didn't make the news because it's common place.  If you want a civilized society, stop appealing to emotions and the better side of people - too many people don't have the same values as you.  Put in place and harshly enforce the laws, and even the thugs will respect them.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of monitary value to the things that were stolen and if it was drug related I can't imagine it would do the thief much good. On the other hand they were priceless to the mother so I hope whomever stold them will have the common decency to return them to her. This is so sad.
Man up! Â Do the right thing for a change! Â
Truly very strange indeed - break into a home and only steal what belonged to the daughter? Most unusual. I hope they catch the scum soon.
@Elaine2 - I was thinking the same thing. The burglary was too personal and specific to be a drug related or for profit theft.Â
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Having been through a similar experience - my home was trashed by day-time burglars who knew my schedule and targeted my child's room, I can empathize with Ms. Harris.  Â
For once in your miserable lives.... Do the right thing and drop off some love back to someone and return what you stole.... better karma! The alternative doesn't bode well for thieves on the run from God.
They only stole what belonged to the deceased daughter? Most costume jewelry isn't worth much... makes me wonder if it was someone who was close to the daughter. If it was a criminal that didn't know the family or the situation then they would have taken everything valuable, I'm sure.
I know many of you will think I'm sub-human and bloodthirsty and no it won't help the family but I can think of any number of vivid and gruesome things I think should be done to people who tread on others pain like this.
Gee, this is terrible. Â I hope she gets it back. Â
Burglars are known to monitor the obituaries and death notices. Slimy but something that the media should be educating people about. This is absolutely terrible for this family. And last I have read most burglary is conducted to trade goods for drugs or sell to get drugs.Â
 @citizen#3457899654:Â
But in this case, Sabrina died two years ago. I doubt there was a death notice this year about her.
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To me it sounds more like someone trying to inflict emotional pain - from the sound of the story, they only took what Sabrina had given her mom, nothing else. If that is true, they would have to know what to look for & how much pain that would cause the mom. If that is not the case, then KOMO did a lousy job of reporting (remember, who/what/whenwhere/why/how).
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I have some very valuable jewelry as well as some cheap costume jewelry. But of everything I have, the pieces that mean the most to me are the ones given to me by my son. A pair of balsawood hearts he painteds with sparkly paint & made "brooches" out of for Valentines Day; a huge gaudy "diamond" (cubic zirconia) ring that turns my finger green - he told me it was because I no longer wore my wedding ring, and he felt I "needed" a different ring; charms for my sterline charm bracelt to commemorate things we have done together, interests we have; and when he was older (his senior year in high school) a pair of saphhire & diamond earrings (he told me the blue reminded him of my eyes). THESE are my treasures, and they are priceless.
Thieves and pedophiles; the lowest life forms on earth. What more can you say?
You can find her jewelry at Cash4Gold. Maybe they haven't melted the stuff down yet. They really need to shut down the mail-in your gold outfits. They are just easy fences for criminals.
Not to much gold in costume jewelry.
Sad. I hope they find their memories....
These guys are scum. I am sure they just want to get their fix. Hopefully a pawn shop will read this story and realize that its stolen goods. Lets hope someone has a little compassion left. Sorry for your heart ache.Â
 @Alaska316 Or they were desperate for food and didn't know where else to turn. They had no idea what they were stealing was worthless but had so much sentimental value. Try not to be a typical American and think that everything is about drugs. Some people do bad things when they get desperate for basic necessities for survival.
 @Barlion So I can guess you're French then? Cause if I was needing food or money, I'd get a JOB, ask for help, our government seems to help everyone else. So, yes, I am going to assume they're junkies.Â
I hope Karma strikes fast and swift.Â
.."The burglar didn't take much, just what matters most, 'Oh my God they took everything of hers' Harris said "
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Really? She was the only one in the family with valuables? Burglar HAD to be someone who knew the family and the girl who passed away. I'd bet on it.
 @Alikelystorey I had the same thought & certainly hope the authorities are looking at her daughters "friends" & acquaintances. It sounds like either a revenge thing or someone wanting momentos. I'm betting on some kind of revenge. No matter the reasons why they stole these things, there is no greater pain on earth than that of losing a child. I lost my child 8 yrs ago and there is no way to recover from that pain.
 @Wishing1  @Alikelystorey Or the dumbass criminals didn't know it was costume jewelry. I doubt they had it locked in a safe. The burglars ran through the house, passed by a room and saw what they thought was something worth a lot and just grabbed it all and got out quick. Ever think of that?
Sorry about your loss. I am inclined to think the same thing given the circumstances. This was not about high dollar value, it was more of an emotional
value.
It's times like this I don't think our justice system takes these burglars serious enough.
 @Zoso Because in Washington state a lot of our laws are stuck in the fifties and we have a very Libertarian minded constitution to begin with. How is that working for everyone?Â
hopefully the low life who did this has the gonads to return the stuff knowing what it means to this lady
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I won't bet the farm on it but I will hold out hope
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To this lady, my most sincere condolences I could not imagine the pain you are going through...