HOUSTON – Empty boxes and a broken heart is all Heather Hanson has left after a crook stole her family's valuable collection of Madame Alexander dolls from their public storage unit on Hillcroft Street.
Hanson says the facility notified her earlier this week about the incident. Some time between Sunday night and Monday morning the crook broke into 12 storage units - including Hanson's - according to the Houston Police Department.
Investigators believe the crook owns his own unit at the facility, which is how he was able to gain access inside.
Hanson says 50-60 Madame Alexander dolls were taken from her unit. The collection is most likely worth at least $2,000. They were passed down to Hanson from her grandmother and she planned to pass them down to her own daughter. "It makes me very angry because these are things I can't replace," Hanson said.
Hanson says the crook broke into her unit by ripping off the door. Luckily, not all of her items were stolen, but she says other renters had their units wiped clean. While Hanson may never get her precious dolls back, she says she can at least take comfort in knowing the storage snatcher wasn't too smart.
"If he knew what the dolls were, he would not have taken them out of the boxes and tissue paper," Hanson said. "Collectors want the dolls in boxes, intact."
HPD says the facility has surveillance video of the incident, which is how they were able to identify the crook as one of their own customers. They believe he got away with all of the items in a large U-Haul truck. If you have any information, call HPD.