The family heirloom vanished in the break-in.
Ellen Key most cherished one piece of jewelry among all of the pieces she had owned. This piece had quite a story, a tale of romance with a mix of card playing. Key’s cherished necklace had been passed down to her from her mother. Attached was a diamond, which had originally been on her mother’s engagement ring, and she loved the story of how that diamond made its way to her mother.
“My father won it in a poker game way back before World War II,” Key says. “He loved to play poker, and I wish I knew even more about the story.”
On Feb. 28, Key was spending some time in the country at her East Texas home.
“I have a lake house in East Texas,” she says. “A friend went by [the house] Sunday morning, and he called me and said the door was open, the TVs were gone, and other things were missing.”
A burglar had broken in the back door and ransacked her home, taking thousands of dollars in property, including two flat-panel televisions, an Apple laptop computer and, unfortunately, her mother’s necklace.
This was not the first time she had been burglarized, and now all of her jewelry had been stolen.
“They got the piece of jewelry that my mother had given me,” she says. “Last time they got all the other jewelry, and this necklace was all that was left.”
This latest crime has disheartened Key about remaining in the Lakewood area.
“I’ve lived here 30 years,” she notes. “I think I’m going to move. I can’t bear the thought of having to worry about my house getting broken into every time I leave town.”
Lt. Gloria Perez of the Dallas Police Northeast Patrol Division says it is unusual for a burglar to target the same home twice, unless the first burglary was interrupted or somehow not completed.
“However, in the case of these two burglaries, there are significant differences in the method of entry — unknown means versus prying open of rear door — and type of items stolen — silver and jewelry versus electronics. Also, the offenses took place over a year and a half apart. This suggests two different burglars,” she says.
Perez recommends “target hardening” to secure rear doors and yards, such as keeping all doors and windows locked at all times, including smaller entry points such as pet doors. Also, keep all gates secured with a strong lock, and having a vicious-sounding dog or an alarm system can be very helpful deterrents, she says.
“A criminal can still break in, of course, but they have less time to take what they like if a blaring alarm is going off in their ears.”
