OLATHE, Kan. — Kathleen Scott and her son Zak are in the middle of moving to Eudora, Kansas, from Gilberts, Illinois. Friday, the Scotts lost nearly all of their possessions including photos and videos of Kathleen's late husband.
“We brought our belongings in a 20-foot U-Haul with the trailer attached. We arrived Wednesday night,” Kathleen Scott said.
Only 72 hours later, the two came back from running errands to find an empty parking space.
“My heart just sank, and I think I cried the rest of the night,” she said.
Showing KSHB 41 where the truck was parked on the side of the hotel, Kathleen says the entire theft was caught on camera outside the CandleWood Suites in Olathe, 15490 S. Rogers Rd.
"We ran to Target a little after 2 p.m. and we came back about 3:15. And according to the camera's timestamp, they took the truck about 2:20," Kathleen Scott said.
In just a few minutes, decades of family treasures, jewelry, clothing, childhood toys and memories of her two children, along with pictures and videos of her late husband who died in 2003, were gone.
“Photos that we are never going to have again. They are not going to have photos to show their kids of their dad, 'This is grandpa,' and those are the things that bother me," she said. "I don't care about the material things, our kitchen goods and stuff. You can replace that. You can't replace the photos or the videotapes of their dad with them."
Kathleen's son Zak lost his father when he was 3 years old and says he's navigating that feeling of loss all over again.
“It sucks because watching the videos of my dad, he is a complete stranger to me. Like hearing his voice, I've never really heard it," Zak Scott said. "So I get overwhelmed when that happens, and then just having or knowing that I won't see that stuff again or I won't hear his voice again, it's pretty heart-crushing."
Kathleen and Zak are both still in disbelief, planning to move into their new home this week.
“At first, it's like, 'Where is Ashton Kutcher? Am I being pranked right now?' But it's just like immediate overwhelmingness,” Zak Scott said.
Zak is hopeful nobody else will have to experience what his family is enduring. As for his mother, she's hopeful for the return of her precious memories.
“Give us back what you can't sell," Kathleen Scott said. "Anything that they could sell, I don't care. But if we could just get back the things that are important to us."
