More than two months after a burglary at their Lawrenceville-area home, a Gwinnett County couple has been reunited with priceless family heirlooms left behind by their World War II-serving grandfathers.
Jeff Jackson and Tori Boone’s home on Flint Hill Drive was empty for only about 90 minutes on March 26, but that was enough time for burglars to break in and pilfer through their belongings. They took the typical electronics, police said, but also stole far more valuable belongings: all of the medals, pins and memorabilia from Jackson’s grandfather’s World War II service in the Army Air Corps, and the wedding ring Boone’s grandfather wore during his own service.
“There’s really no words to describe how you feel other than just kind of devastated,” Jackson said Monday, the day Gwinnett police returned the items.
Police spokeswoman Cpl. Michele Pihera said that, two days after the burglary, the department was notified about a stolen vehicle located at the Park Crossing apartment complex near Norcross. Police found several stolen items inside the vehicle — including a small leather pouch holding the jewelry and war memorabilia.
Using a name located on the back of a bracelet inside the pouch, a gangs unit detective tracked down a relative in New York, Pihera said. That relative — Jackson’s uncle — said he had family in Atlanta, which led detectives to the report from the burglary.
The search was complicated because that original report listed the stolen property only as “miscellaneous jewelry.”
On Monday, the belongings were returned.
“Those things cost a few bucks to put together,” Jackson said, “but they’re medals that were earned in World War II and heirlooms that were passed down from our grandfathers that we respect, that did so much for our country.”
Pihera said several suspects have been identified in the case and “other cases related to burglaries, stolen vehicles and stolen items.” Those suspects’ identities were not being released “in an effort to protect (the) investigation,” Pihera said.
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