Family Moving to Utah Recovers Stolen Possessions

Family Moving to Utah Recovers Stolen Possessions


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Whit Johnson Reporting"When we moved in we didn't have anything to move in. We had a suitcase and a couple of plastic bags."

After getting off to a rocky start, a Texas family is finally able to make Utah feel like home. Imagine moving across the country just to have your moving truck, with all of your family's possessions, stolen. That's what happened to a family that recently moved to West Jordan from Texas.

Family Moving to Utah Recovers Stolen Possessions

Finally, the nightmare is over and they can start unpacking. That's right, the Dunbar family has almost all of their belongings back, thanks to a successful search warrant in South Salt Lake.

The move was a few weeks ago, but for Larry Dunbar and his family, the unpacking begins today.

Larry Dunbar: "They're once in a lifetime memories. They're irreplaceable."

Memories, finally returned after a moving nightmare. Their truck was stolen from a Sandy hotel. It's almost all back now -- the beds, the bicycles. The family kitty finally has some familiar smells.

Family Moving to Utah Recovers Stolen Possessions

The suspected thieves are behind bars. Depending on how a judge rules, 29-year-old Travis DeRosier and 28-year-old Melissa Nielson could be behind bars for as many as 60 years.

Sgt. Victor Quezada, Sandy City Police Department: "This was somebody's livelihood. This was somebody's entire life in the back of a truck. They moved from another state. And property can be replaced and stuff, but certain things, photographs, you know little kids school records. Stuff like that you can never replace."

Larry Dunbar: "We're still making payments on the washer and dryer so we're really glad to get those back."

Even without their belongings, Larry says support from the community made them feel at home.

Larry Dunbar: "There was a lady she lived south of here, she offered us a couch and a sofa. There were several local businesses that offered our kids clothes. There was just a wide swap of generosity."

The suspects were booked on four separate felony charges.

Larry Dunbar, his wife and two kids say they'll take some of the extra belongings they were given and donate them to someone else in need.

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