Letter from one of those victimized. Hope they catch this Jack A#$.
ROSEMARY BEACH — A week after Rozz Friedman’s home was burglarized, she sat down and wrote a letter.“I went to Panera Bread and got a coffee and started writing,” she said.She addressed her open letter to “Mr. Thief,” who walked into her home, stole her family heirlooms and “disappeared like a ghost into the night,” she wrote.“He didn’t just steal from me, he stole from my grandmother, grandfather and my parents ... the solid, concrete evidence that I have of who they are,” she said over the phone from her house on Wiggle Lane.
Friedman had just returned home a from trip to Texas the night of Jan. 11 when she noticed her house was in disarray.She shrugged off the mess assuming her husband had been looking for something. But in the morning light, she noticed something wasn’t right.The terror set in when she noticed the front door was open, and then she found that all of her mementos from her parents and grandparents had been stolen.It wasn’t the dollar value she became distraught about, but the memories attached to each piece of jewelry she had kept.“Mr. Thief, my heart is broken,” she wrote.She mentions a photo of her parents “happy and dancing.” In the photo, her mother is wearing a diamond ring her father gave her.
The diamond ring that was stolen.Her mother, from Barcelona, was a roller skater, painter and mountain climber. She met Friedman’s father in Mexico City when he was studying the arts.When she was 45, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. During her illness, she created a nonprofit organization to help low income cancer patients and their families. Her father bought her the diamond ring as a way to lift her spirits. She wore it until she died in 2001.“My dad was so proud of my mom,” she wrote in the letter. “He gave her beautiful gold bracelets as a token of his love, admiration and respect for her hard work.“You stole them all.”Among the missing possessions was her dad’s class ring from Brooklyn College.
He went to school on the G.I. Bill after serving in the Army. He grew up in New York to immigrant parents who instilled a good work ethic in him. Her later built a business as well as a scholarship for underprivileged kids to afford them the same opportunities he had.The stolen items were a tangible timeline from the milestones in Friedman’s life. The Mexican gold coins from her college graduation, her engagement ring. A European cut diamond ring that belonged to her grandmother.
“They symbolize things in our lives that mean something,” she said. “Birthdays and anniversaries ... our family has a rich and textured history.”
Walton County Sheriff’s Office spent nine hours at Friedman’s house on Jan. 12 taking fingerprints and photographs. Corey Dobridnia, spokesperson for WCSO, said the burglar is believed to be the same man that has broken into 28 homes along 30A in the past 18 months.
“It is still under investigation,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s a priority for the agency and we’re working on leads.”Friedman has also done some investigating of her own, calling local pawn shops and jewelry buyers as well as scrolling through ads on Craigslist from Panama City to Pensacola.“I have to be my own advocate,” she said. “I’ve been learning all of the rules ... under Florida law, if I find my jewelry I have to buy it back and keep a receipt so the burglar can give me restitution.”Trying to relocate the items of her family history has kept her awake most nights. Writing the letter was like finding a small bit of peace.“It was cathartic,” she said.But most of all, she just wants her things back.“Put it in a bag and throw it in a rosemary bush outside my house in Rosemary Beach,” she wrote to Mr. Thief. “I would be so grateful to know that there lies within you humanity.”
