Blanket bandits strike
Maureen Dolan Staff Writer | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years AGO
Courtesy photos Nate Clements’ daughter, Josslyn, 7, cries on her mother’s shoulder after thieves stole a blanket her grandmother made for her from a package on her family’s porch in the Landings section of Coeur d’Alene.
Thieves stole an irreplaceable, handmade blanket from this box left on Nate Clements’ family’s porch. It was sent to Clements’ little girl from her grandmother in Texas.
This blanket was made by hand by Nate Clements’ mother in Texas for his daughter Josslyn, 7. The little girl never received it because thieves stole it from a package left on the family’s porch in Coeur d’Alene. (Courtesy photo)
COEUR d’ALENE — Nate Clements’ family is devastated after thieves pilfered packages from their doorstep over the weekend.
One of the boxes taken from outside the family’s home in the Landings neighborhood contained an irreplaceable gift for Clements’ 7-year-old daughter Josslyn.
“My mom lives in Texas and has only been able to come up and see her granddaughter twice,” Clements told The Press. “Missing her more than the world, she handmade her a special blanket.”
While the family was at a gymnastics meet for the little girl on Saturday, the packages were delivered, but were gone when the family arrived back at home.
Here’s the kicker, Clements said.
When the family went out again later, the thieves returned to the home and left the opened mail with the contents missing. They left the ripped-open box that had contained the blanket, and a card the grandmother wrote to Josslyn. The empty, damaged box was lovingly decorated with red hearts drawn by the little girl’s grandma.
“As you can assume, my daughter was heartbroken and full of tears,” Clements said. “Not only is she afraid someone is going to break into our home, she is heartbroken that the handmade blanket from her grandma was stolen.”
Clements’ family has lived in the Landings for five years. For the most part, it’s been a great place to live, he said.
“Up until the last two years. Break-ins and thieves have ruined it for us,” he said, adding that Saturday’s mail theft is the worst experience they’ve had.
Clements said he feels helpless.
“And as a father, husband, veteran, and a man, that kills me,” he said.
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