A West Vancouver family victimized by a recent burglary is praying they’ll be reunited with their most prized possession – a box of old home videos.
According to West Vancouver police, someone broke into the De Bonis family home on Renton Road in the British Properties during the early evening of Jan. 28.
The burglar triggered the home’s alarm and escaped with some jewelry and watches, just minutes before police arrived.
Investigators brought in the canine unit and searched the area but no suspect turned up.
It wasn’t until the next day that Mary De Bonis noticed a plastic storage bin containing approximately 60 eight millimetre video tapes was gone.
“Which, I don’t understand why they would do that. We’re really upset about all of that,” she said.
If the suspect bothers to watch the tapes, what they’ll find is 20 years of memories of first trips to the skating rink, dance recitals and family reunions with relatives in Europe.
“Some of them are no longer with us,” she said. “Lots of really amazing memories and things that are now gone,” she said.
With no monetary value, De Bonis is left with more questions than answers.
“Why would they take them? What would they do with them? Are they just in a dumpster somewhere? Can they be retrieved?” she asked.
The valuables may be long gone, but De Bonis said she is hopeful the tapes can be found and returned as the family heirlooms they are.
“That’s what makes me sick about the whole robbery,” she said.
The youngest of the De Bonis kids, Victor, said he has taken the loss the hardest of the family.
“I’m still in shock,” he said, noting the tapes would usually come out when the family gathered at Christmastime. “The reason I’m sad is I wanted to show those videos to my kids, when I have them. That whole experience is all gone. That’s pretty disappointing.”
Now De Bonis said she hopes her neighbours will learn from her loss, and do more to protect themselves from break-ins.
“We live in such a safe community. It’s amazing how safe we are. But sometimes we have to think. It can happen to anybody,” she said.
Anyone with information about the theft or the tapes is asked to contact West Vancouver police.
