A couple loses possessions in storage theft shortly after personal tragedy
By Leo Stallworth
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ONTARIO, California (KABC) — An Inland Empire couple who were recently grieving the loss of a child have now been hit with the theft of most of their possessions.
Demi Moreno says she and her husband put thousands of dollars worth of clothes and other items – some irreplaceable – in a public storage unit roughly three months ago in Ontario.
They returned a month later and found the unit empty.
The theft came a short time after a personal tragedy for the couple.
“I had just had a stillbirth,” Moreno says. “I lost my daughter. I have a rare blood disorder and I was in a near life-and-death experience.”
She says that was her third failed attempt to have a child.
Despite that overwhelming hardship, Demi and her husband Daniel were summoning the courage to try to move forward with plans to start a new life in San Diego.
Until they visited the storage facility, discovering to their horror all of their stuff gone.
“I just felt numb,” Demi says. “At this point I’ve lost everything I ever owned and I’m also grieving the loss of my daughter. It’s just a lot on me physically and emotionally and my health. I’m really struggling right now.”
She says she had some $20,000 worth of items in the unit, including movie collectibles, shoes, clothing and family memorabilia such as her father’s military uniforms and papers.
The couple say the lock on their storage unit had been tampered with. Security cameras located primarily outside of the business showed nothing. They say they filed a police report but so far nothing has turned up.
“Just everything I’ve ever owned in the 26 years of my entire life ever since I was a little girl, just completely everything was just swept clean,” she says.
“It hurts because we are also trying to save up for a house and it just sets us back,” her husband Daniel says.
The couple claim some of their stolen items have been sold online. We reached out to Ontario police and the public storage facility and have yet to hear back from either.
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