'She cries every time I talk to her'

When a home is burgled, it’s typical to find items such as jewellery, cash, and electronics missing.

What’s not typical is thieves making off with death certificates, locks of hair, and other items that hold no value other than sentimental.

Unfortunately, that’s what happened to Lorain Lebel earlier this week.

SooToday was alerted to the unusual theft thanks to an ad published to our classified section by her son Luke Haynes.

Readers may recognize his name from one of SooToday’s ‘Great Stories’ – he and his wife Angie were featured for inspiring their five children to do good deeds within the community.

The break-in at Lorain’s Lake Street home occurred sometime between 3:30 and 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, August 23, Luke told us.

“That’s the only time nobody was there,” he said.

Entry was gained through a basement window, and missing items include $500 cash, a piggy bank with approximately $40 in change, jewellery, an iPad and charger, and his grandmother’s jewellery box.

Contained within that jewellery box were some items of value to no one else other than Lorain, including her parents death certificates, locks of her children’s hair, a lock of her mother’s hair from the day she passed away, her mother’s 90-year-old string of rosary beads, and newspaper clippings her mother had collected over the years that featured various family members.

“She cries every time I talk to her,” Luke said of Lorain’s reaction to the theft. “All the last things she had from her mother were in that jewellery box. Now she has nothing left from her mother.”

The jewellery box in question is described as a 12”x8”x4” wooden box with grey and brown patterned cloth on the lid.

It has a removable interior tray that reveals a bottom section where the sentimental items were stored.

Specific jewellery items stolen include single and double strands of cultured pearls, a gold infinity ring with diamonds all the way around, two gold quarter karat diamond solitaire rings, a 60-year-old silver charm bracelet, and a stickpin with a resin incased rose on the head.

“I’m hoping somebody has a soul. It’s just an arrogant crime,” Lorain told us. “At least they didn’t hurt my dogs, so they must have some sort of heart.”

“They took my iPad, but big deal. I can get a new one. But things like this are irreplaceable,” she said.

A reward of $1,000 is being offered for the return of the stolen sentimental items, Luke’s classified ad states.

No questions asked.

Anyone with information about this theft is encouraged to contact him at 705-255-6166.