Cherished memories stolen

Photo: Contributed

When thieves made off with an old laptop, they took more a than a piece of computer equipment.

“My mom, who is 90, is taking care of my 88-year-old dad who, in addition to experiencing the early stages of dementia, fell and broke a vertebrae six weeks ago," said daughter Dorrie Williams. 

"On Saturday night while they were in their house, a thief walked into their home, the patio door was unlocked, and took mom’s laptop and their house keys.

“The laptop was ancient – a 10-year-old Lenovo Thinkpad. But while my brother was dying of cancer, he loaded it with pictures of our family from the last 50 years and the family tree he worked on, with mom, for several years. He gave the laptop to her as a gesture of love before he died; her last link to him. She is heartbroken over this loss.”

Whoever stole the laptop entered the home while the elderly couple were inside. The emotional damage done by losing such an important cache of memories was made even worse by the theft of the keys, meaning the culprit(s) could access the home whenever they wanted.

Williams said her parents were terrified to be in their own home until all of the locks were changed.

“The thieves were basically saying 'We'll be back,' so for two elderly people it was a pretty rough couple of days,” Williams said, adding the locks have been changed and a new alarm system installed.

Williams is pleading with whoever stole the laptop to return it.

“There is a file with the RCMP and practically speaking it can be turned in almost anywhere of note in town: city hall, the library, seniors activity centre – pretty much anywhere,” she said. “It's such a small town someone would hear about it and know who it belongs to.”

Williams said the incident has also shaken her small town feel for Armstrong, a town where it is common to leave sliding doors open, and windows unlocked.