PHOENIX — Kimberly Heggie is on the search for her real-life Grinch after a Christmas tradition was tarnished on December 5.
Heggie was at the movies with her family when she got a notification from her security cameras.
She didn’t think anything of it until they got home.
"Our back door was open and our upstairs window was open,” Heggie recalls.
She went back and looked at her cameras and saw a thief ransacking her home, sifting through and stealing precious items.
"I have my late mother's ashes in a cabinet. I have mementos from my late sister. My father who passed away during COVID-19, I have mementos just from him,” Heggie says.
Kimberly recently adopted her biological niece and nephew out of foster care. She says their PlayStation game controllers were snatched.
"They had already been through a lot of trauma before they came to us. Coming home to the security that we had built for them over so many years; for that security to be violated, was really upsetting.”
Heggie says the thief also got away with a jewelry box. Inside, a necklace of significance.
"I collected shells with my mom on the beach in Hawaii... in 1974 and for this guy to come and take that if you just can't replace stuff like that.”
ABC15 asked Heggie, "If you could tell that man one thing, what would you tell them?"
Heggie responded: "You stole memories. And you stole the security and comfort of children more than you stole anything of monetary value. And that's unforgivable."
Heggie filed a report with the Phoenix Police Department, as she waits for the thief to be caught.
Anyone who recognizes the suspect is asked to contact Phoenix police.
