DENVER (KDVR) — A woman who evacuated from the East Troublesome Fire is calling on the community for help after thieves stole her car containing all of her family’s childhood photos and memories from a garage in Denver.
“In the back of my car were about seven large boxes that had all of the pictures of my three children from when they were babies all the way up to high school, college years as they aged,” Maureen Cain said.
“These were older pictures back 25 years, my daughter’s plays, our trip to Africa, albums we made up for memories.”
Cain planned to take her pictures back to her home she evacuated as soon as it was safe but thieves had another idea.
“My car was stolen on election night, the story gets crazier,” she said.
Police eventually found her car in a garage at a hotel in Lakewood.
“There was a bunch of stuff in the back of the car, according to the officer who retrieved it, so I was hopeful that it was my boxes.”
However, Cain’s hope quickly faded when she found another family’s memories in her trunk.
“When we found some IDs and a wedding photo album, we got the name of this woman who lived in New York City,” Cain said. “I Facebook messaged her and found out she and her husband had been traveling through Denver and her car had been broken into.”
Cain got the chance to return items money can’t buy to this couple knowing first-hand how special those captured printed memories are to a family.
“She said ‘we had a lot of stuff taken but these photos and the memorabilia was most important to me’ so it felt really good to be able to return them to her.”
Cain only wishes someone could do the same for her if they find her big blue plastic containers filled with her family’s memories.
“I would feel like there’s a karma dancing around Denver if I were to get anything back.”