A stolen box of family photos found and returned to Kamloops family.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Christina Stefanuk

A Kamloops woman was reunited with a box of precious family mementos that were stolen over a month ago.

Christina Stefanuk was contacted by another resident who found the box next to a clothing bin near the recycling depot on Bunker Road a couple of days ago and the pair met up to exchange the box. 

“I started bawling, I was floored,” she said. “It had preschool crafts from my oldest daughter, class photos, baby books, photos of ultrasounds. I felt blessed.”

Stefanuk’s storage trailer full of belongings was stolen from a lot in Knutsford on Feb. 14, along with her motorcycle. She had “come to peace” with the loss and after not getting any clues about the theft since, so was not expecting something good to come of it.

Resident Laura-lea Algate found the box and her roommate Courtenay Mann contacted Stefanuk after finding her name attached to it.

“I’m so grateful, I don’t know them, I was blown away,” Stefanuk said. “She (Courtenay) gave me her address and brought the box out to me. Going through it I was tearing up. There is still a lot missing but it’s a little bit of something.”

The roommates declined an interview with iNFOnews.ca because they didn’t make the effort to return the box for any kind of recognition, but allowed their names to be used.

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Stefanuk said the clothing bin the box was found near is owned by Diabetes Canada, which also helped. She contacted the organization which let her know when an employee would be unloading the bin, and he let her look through for more of her belongings.

“It was kind of them,” she said. “I found a few kids clothes and a game. The fact it got dropped off now means the trailer is still in town. My husband and I are grabbing coffees and driving around looking for it. They must be unpacking it slowly.”

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Stefanuk said most items in her stolen 14-foot trailer are replaceable but there are things like scripts from her fine arts education, school yearbooks and her husband’s baby blanket that cannot replaced.

She’s grateful for the act of kindness by the roommates, and to have a sliver of the important family items back.

“There's so much thievery and negative stuff going on right now it’s nice to see something good come out of it,” Stefanuk said.

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