A Maple Ridge woman is demanding justice after a storage locker housing her late daughter’s personal items was broken into and ransacked.
Julie Raymond lost her 16-year-old daughter Shannon in 2008 when the teen overdosed on ecstasy while on a party bus with friends.
Her family rented out the storage locker to house Shannon’s belongings, from a box of items from when she was a baby to sealed evidence from the night she died.
On Saturday, Raymond says she got a call from the storage company that the locker was “compromised,” and discovered the break-in.
“It was like someone had just shaken the contents of the locker and just shoved them back in there,” she said.
“When we went through things, we realized the magnitude of what had happened,” she added, her voice breaking as she held back tears.
Raymond says the evidence bags were ripped open, and some of the clothes Shannon was wearing on the party bus are now gone. So is her wallet and a TNA bag she was carrying that night. The rest of the contents were dumped on the floor of the locker “like garbage,” she said.
Other stolen belongings include an unopened gift for Shannon’s 17th birthday and several of those baby items. Two acoustic guitars belonging to the family were also taken.
Raymond says the thief or thieves rummaged through a “funeral box” that contained photos and notes left by family and friends. Other items, including family heirlooms left to Shannon, were left broken on the ground.
Raymond says RCMP are involved and are looking into other break-ins at the same storage locker facility in Maple Ridge.
Ridge Meadows RCMP confirmed a break in at a self-storage facility in the 20700 block of Steward Crescent, and said it appeared that more than one locker had accessed.
Police said the file is being actively investigated.
Raymond says she has a clear message for whoever is responsible for the theft and destruction of the storage locker and her daughter’s belongings.
“You have no heart,” she said. “You knew what you broke into was a deceased child’s belongings, and you made the conscious decision to rip them apart.”
“Give the things back,” Danielle added. “They’re not yours.”