A Family's Plea To Thieves: Keep Our Cameras, Return Our Memories

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (WCCO) - A quiet Northfield neighborhood has dealt with around five recent car break-ins. And one family is pleading with some crooks to return some priceless possessions.

Last Saturday, someone broke into the Langan family's van and took two cameras. The John Langan says they can keep the electronics, but they want the contents of those cameras back.

"I noticed that the glove compartment and the little storage container in between the seats were wide open," Langan said. "It was pretty obvious that someone had broken into the van."

After the burglary, the Langan family put up posters like these all over town. It's says "Have a Heart" please.

"Yes, we lost the camera and a camcorder and there's value in that, but they're priceless as far as the memories of our kids," he said.

The Langans have four kids, ages 9 to 16 years old. There were five years' worth of childhood memories stored in the stolen cameras.

"Things like first communion, sports, school activities," he said.

And there's a very good reason they want the pictures back.

"We lost pictures once again," Langan said. "We had a fire eight years ago and we lost baby pictures and much younger pictures of them."

So for now, the family is hoping whoever took the cameras will return what simply cannot be replaced.

"I feel like we're never going to get those back," Langan said. "We don't care about the cameras. We want those memory sticks back. Hopefully they didn't erase our kids' memories off those memory sticks."

If you have any information, please call police.