HOUSTON – A burglar broke into the home of a late Vietnam veteran and didn’t steal the big flat-screen TV - but rather the irreplaceable moments that likely have no value to you and me.
Sgt. Patrick ‘Rick’ Jacobus served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War as a flight navigator on a C-130 aircraft.
Earlier this month, he passed away after a battle with cancer.
On Thursday, he was laid to rest. It’s the same day a man broke into his home, stealing things that have no value other than the irreplaceable sentimental value to his family.
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“My heart sank,” said his daughter, Anne Engelbrecht.
If saying her final goodbyes to her father wasn’t enough, she was sucker punched by the ski mask-wearing burglar.
“It just hurt,” she said. “It’s such a violation and it’s just something I wanted to remember him by, you know? And I don’t have that.”
Jacobus, a Houston native, was battling a cancer that spread throughout his body.
He chose to live near the hospital so he was close to his doctors.
“He had to have a lung cut out. So he had one lung, but the cancer had spread to his whole body,” Engelbrecht said.
When he passed, she knew some of the things she wanted to remember her father by, like his military uniform, his bomber jacket and his vintage coin collection.
The same day Jacobus was being laid to rest, a man broke into his home and stole all of those things that don’t have a huge cash value, but are priceless to his family.
“They also took the food that was in the fridge. They took the water and paper towels, like, just weird things.”
What’s even weirder is why this guy was caught on a neighbor’s doorbell camera.
After all, Anne doesn’t recognize the man.
He was spotted stopping by several different nights, checking on the front door and seemingly casing out the empty apartment.
“I really didn’t pay attention to them until he started covering up my door ring camera,” said a neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified out of fear.
That neighbor stayed up late. It’s the early morning hours of Thursday that the burglar struck.
“That’s when he spray painted my door Ring camera,” the neighbor said.
Anne knows those coins are likely gone, and she’s truly okay with that.
She wrote a note that now hangs on her father’s door sharing that sentiment.
Anne just wants back what means most to her.
“I just want my dad’s uniform back, and I want that bomber jacket back to get my son,” she said.
If you know who the man is or have a tip that could help investigators, you can submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers of Houston online or by calling 713-222-TIPS (8477).
