Thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry, watches, coins and other items stolen during break-ins in 2018 and 2019 in Metro Vancouver and Calgary have been catalogued and placed on a special web page to help owners retrieve their property.
Recovered during a raid on a Port Coquitlam home last year, the items have been photographed to make it easy to identify and return the items to their rightful-owners, according to Coquitlam RCMP.
“The primary reason we are doing this is we want to get people their goods back,” said Cpl. Michael McLaughlin, who speaks for the local Mounties.
It has taken months to sort, catalogue and photograph the items since they were recovered during a search of a Port Coquitlam home in 2019, but they are now available for viewing.
Among the items are dozens of high-priced watches and unique pieces of jewelry, many of them likely of sentimental value to their owners, McLaughlin said.
And while an exact monetary value has not been provided for the items, it is believed some of the items are worth thousands of dollars and they were taken during break and enters in the Lower Mainland, including Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam, Burnaby, New Westminster, West Vancouver and as far away as Calgary, often while people were away for a long time.
“There was a voluminous amount of evidence to go through,” McLaughlin acknowledged.
The stolen goods were all recovered in a joint operation last year between West Vancouver Police and Coquitlam RCMP’s Prolific Target Team (PTT).
On Nov. 20, 2019, members of the West Vancouver Police Target Team and Coquitlam RCMP's Prolific Target Team executed a search warrant at a PoCo home, where a suspect was arrested and officers allegedly found stolen property, including items which had been stolen from a West Vancouver home.
The investigation led to the arrest of 52-year-old Michael Horyn of Port Coquitlam. He is facing is facing eight counts of break and enter.
Now the items that were catalogued following the raid are available for viewing on the RCMP webpage.
However, the web page isn’t a free-for all. Those who recognize the items and reply via the email attached with each photo will be linked to an investigator who will ask questions only the owner will know.
“We’re going to ask you a few questions, and trace it back, it’s not stuff of trivial value, so we want to make sure it goes back to the right person.”
Among the items on the website are 17 rings, a pearl necklace with matching earrings, dozens of coins and watches.
Anyone who was a victim of a break and enter in Metro Vancouver or Calgary, Alberta between 2018 and 2019 is encouraged to check the new Coquitlam RCMP webpage.
Police warn that attempting to claim items that do not belong to you would be an offence that could lead to charges.
