Local

Family comes home to $50,000 worth of goods stolen

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Myers Park family got an unexpected surprise this Christmas.  They returned home and found $50,000 worth of jewelry and electronics stolen.

“My wife had gone upstairs to put her earrings away and noticed her jewelry box was missing," said Jeff Cooper.

He said the thief appeared to have taken one of his pillow cases to help steal jewelry and precious heirlooms.  Computers and iPads were also stolen and Cooper said the total loss was around $50,000.

"It was the one night that we happened to go out of town and they got us." he said.

Phillip Green lives just a few houses down and came home around the same time as the Coopers.

"When we got back we saw the screen was torn and the house was broken into," Greene said.

Greene said the home that was broken into is vacant so the thieves got nothing.

However, he said he planned to tighten up security there and at his own home.

"Its frightening to think someone would break into your own home," he said.

Eyewitness News checked and found fewer than five reported crimes in the area since the start of the year.  Police said they were unsure whether the two break-ins were connected.