There have been rumours about break-in’s and thefts occurring on the East Shore over the past several weeks, but worries became more concrete when a vehicle was stolen from the home of a Gray Creek residence on October 18, 2013.
Neighbours of the people who had their vehicle stolen reported the odd occurrences of the evening. The homeowners had gone out for dinner at a neighbour’s and had even taken their vehicle with them. Upon returning, they parked their car, and went into the house. Later, they discovered that the car was taken right from the house, most definitley while they were in it. The culprits had entered the house through an unlocked basement, had come in, taken some beer from the fridge and other odd items along with it, including two knives, two forks, two plates, etc…
They must have been in the house (they even enjoyed the homeowner’s hot tub) while the couple were out for dinner. It was even speculated that the culprits could have been inside when they returned home, and then gone out the basement door again, stealing the red Hyndai SUV as they went. The auto theft could also have occurred at a later time, with the robbers potentially returning to the scene.
Regardless, the vehicle was found in Kimberly two days later, abandoned near a towing yard. Forensic teams are investigating the vehicle for information.
Apparently there have been many automobile thefts over the past year or so in the whole Central/East Kootenay area. It seems that it is now important to lock your houses and cars in the hopes to discourage this rash of burglaries and thefts. The couple in Gray Creek have also had a dog for most of their time in the area, and are only recently living without one. They speculate that the incident may not have occurred if they still had a dog at the house.
Please take care of each other, lock your houses and vehicles, and keep an eye out for suspicious behaviour.