Burglar steals priceless family items from family

AHWATUKEE, Ariz. (KSAZ) - Burglaries happen every day around the valley and sometimes it is easy to forget that what gets taken isn't just stuff, it's prized possessions and memories, and that hurts.

Last Wednesday Courtney Moore had a feeling something was wrong when she walked into her home in Ahwatukee near Frye Road and 48th Street. She left the gate to the back yard unlocked.

"I noticed the back door open a little bit, I thought it had been sticking, then I came through here, and the baby gate was open, that was strange," said Courtney Moore.

Courtney walked upstairs and saw someone had rifled through her desk, and her worst fears were confirmed.

"Well, they took my jewelry box, and inside I had several items. One was a ring I inherited when my mother passed when I was a little girl, and it means the world to me," said Moore.

It's a distinctive design and says "Cartier" inside. Courtney planned to pass that ring along to her daughter Evelyn when she grew up to keep alive a family tradition.

For a burglar, this might just be another day on the job, but for a crime victim it is a totally different thing, and Courtney has a message for whoever is responsible.

"They stole our sense of safety, they stole an experience I would have liked to have with my daughter and memories from me I will never get back, and that is heartbreaking in a lot of different ways," said Moore.

The heartbreak they cause, is that something burglars ever think about? Here's hoping now that someone will.

If you have any information on the stolen ring call Phoenix Police or Silent Witness at 480-WITNESS.