Heart-shaped urn, and case, like the ones stolen from the Allens
Brian Allen, at his home in Fayette County, Georgia, Friday, February 10, 2012
FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga. -- There is a stunning break in the search for the crooks who caused a Fayette County couple even more heartache after losing their newborn daughter.
There is now video of two suspects.
Fayette County Sheriff's investigators think the two men seen in the video accompanying this article may be the burglars who broke into the home of Christy and Brian Allen on January 22nd and stole electronics and jewelry -- and took so much more.
"Our daughter's urn," said Brian Allen. "She passed away about two years ago... She died at birth... You know, that's all we had of her. That's, that's..."
He trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
The Allen's daughter, Olivia, died on July 22, 2010, the day she was born. The Allens kept Olivia's ashes in a heart-shaped urn inside a small case.
The burglars took the urn and case, along with the family's Kindle Fire computer tablet and other electronics, and jewelry.
The Allens wonder if the burglars thought the urn's case was a jewelry case, and took it without opening it to see the urn inside.
What were the odds of ever finding out who did it?
It turns out that two men showed up at a convenience store on Highway 138 and Kendrick Road, in neighboring Clayton County, the same day as the burglary, and they had with them the Allens' Kindle Fire. And they sold it to an employee inside the store.
"When they sold it, the people continued to use it, and the Fayette Sheriff's Department were able to locate it from the signal it was producing," Allen said.
Once investigators tracked the tablet to the convenience store, they checked the store's surveillance video and saw the entire transaction -- and saw, for the first time, the men who may have also taken the urn.
Surveillance cameras outside the store showed them driving a car that looks like a dark-colored 2004 Honda Accord.
Do they have the urn?
"If they don't have it, maybe they can help us find it," said Sheriff's Investigator Brent Rowan. "Because we want to restore this to these victims. Essentially what's happened is they've lost their daughter twice."
The video provides a solid link to the people who may have caused the Allens so much heartache on top of heartache.
And this message from the Allens to the crooks: We know you don't want to get caught. Just return the urn.
"Drop it off, throw it in the yard," Allen said. "They know where they got it from. We just want that urn back."
Anyone who has any information about the identity of the two men in the video, or about the location of the urn, or any other information about the case, can call:
Fayette County Sheriff's Tip Line:
770-716-4750