B.C. teenage antique picker’s garage robbed of ‘thousands of dollars’ worth of goods

A Surrey B.C. teenager is asking the public to keep a lookout for valuable antiques after her garage was broken into and up to 150 items worth ‘thousands of dollars’ were stolen.

Nineteen-year-old Lyric Kennedy said one person or multiple people broke into her car Saturday morning, found the garage door opener and then used it to access the family’s garage where she has her antique picker business set up and collects old goods to resell.

“I had a panic attack,” Kennedy said. “I broke down and felt very violated and sad.”

She said the most valuable items that were stolen were the drawers from the cabinet her grandfather had built before he passed away.

“It got passed down generations so it just really sucks,” she added.

“If I could get anything back, all I want is the drawers that meant so to me. I really wanted that piece in my house one day, that was very devastating.”

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Kennedy said another valuable item that was among the goods stolen was a neon sign that read ‘Lyric’s Vintage,’ which is her business’ name.

“I got that for my 19th birthday and my whole family helped pay for it — so that was also devastating to find out that was gone,” she said.

Kennedy says she’s been a ‘picker,’ which is someone who buys and resells antiques, since a very young age.

“It was crazy, at five years old she would beg us to go to garage sales,” Kennedy’s mom, Tammy, told Global News.

“At a young, young age, she was fascinated with anything old… just constantly wanting to go through drawers and look at trinkets.”

Tammy said her daughter eventually began to turn a profit from collecting these items at the age of 11 and became successful enough that she decided to skip going to university and focus on antique picking full time.

In the meantime, the antique picking community has come together to help Kennedy with some of the loss, pitching in to buy a new neon business sign.

“The used, junk-buying, antique, vintage, collectible community is really tight and just a great bunch of people,” Clint Wilson, who goes by ‘Clint the Collector’ professionally, said. “It’s like a big family.”

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Tammy added that people from parts of Canada and the United States have sent her daughter gifts after hearing about the incident.

Kennedy has posted some of the pricier missing items on her Instagram page, @LyricsVintage, and is asking the public to keep an eye out for the items.

“If you see any of the items, can you please message me through my Instagram. If you could just message me where you are or send pictures, I could send it to the cops right away.”