***UPDATE: FOX31 Denver has set up a fund at Key Bank to help bring Christmas back to the Maciel family. Go to the bottom of this story for details***
DENVER — A family is now facing a very bleak Christmas after thieves broke into their apartment and stole everything.
It happened Thursday night while they made a quick run to the store to pick up some Christmas movies.
Someone ripped the screen from a window at the apartment in the 600 block of Wolff St., climbed into the apartment and stole everything they could carry out — including the family’s unopened Christmas presents.
Mary Maciel had just returned home with her son and two grandchildren she’s raising. They found her place ransacked and everything was stolen.
“When I got my check on the first of the month I tried to buy what they wanted for Christmas and it’s just so hard I don’t know what to do, you know, where to go for help,” she says.
Maciel is on a fixed income. One of the children she cares for is disabled.
Besides all of their Christmas gifts, thieves rifled through drawers, rummaged in closets and ripped out cabinets.
“We just got very scared, we didn’t know where to go or what to do,” she says.
They took wallets, cell phones, VCRs, a laptop, PC, monitor, Nintendo, X-Box, a camera and even some of the kids’ glasses.
“We’re not going to have any presents, it’s going to be hard,” robbery victim Olga Hernandez says.
An iPad, shoes and clothing were among the unopened presents that were stolen.
Denver police say anyone with information can call 720-913-STOP (7867).
Anyone who wants to donate to the Maciel family can visit any Key Bank branch and ask to contribute to the “Maria S. Maciel Christmas Donation Fund.”
Another option is coming to our station at 100 East Speer Boulevard, Denver, CO 80203 and dropping off your gifts personally. We will hold them in a safe place and give them to the family on Christmas Day.