Boxes full of personal possessions stolen from Winnipeg garage

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A 27-year-old woman, who moved to Winnipeg in December, is asking for help in finding six stolen boxes filled with personal and irreplaceable items.

Stefanie Martin, who works as a community organizer with Migrante Manitoba, said the theft took place on Thursday at her friend’s North End home, where she is currently staying.

“We returned to the house through the garage and I immediately saw that my boxes were gone,” she said in an interview on Sunday.

“We looked around and we also saw that two of [my friend’s] bikes were also taken."

Martin, who moved to Toronto from the Philippines in 2008, said she has no idea how someone got inside the garage and what they’d do with the boxes filled with her clothes, shoes, books and childhood mementos, such as pictures, letters, documents, journals and diplomas.

She noted the theft is even more upsetting because she is an archivist and believes in preserving history.

“A lot of the items are hand-me-downs from loved ones, elders in my community,” Martin said.

“A lot of them are documents and memorabilia from past leaders in our community. A lot of them are also things and letters, memories from the Philippines, because I grew up there and moved to [Canada] when I was only 13. Those items really mean a lot to me.”

She said many of the items taken were her connection to the Philippines, as well as her family and loved ones.

“Losing them has been really hard,” Martin said.

Martin said she wants the people who took her belongings to know she understands why they took items that may be of value to them, but she’d like her personal items returned. She noted the boxes have the address where the items can be returned.

“They can easily return it and we will ask no questions,” she said.

Martin asks people to stay on the lookout for Home Depot boxes, and to get in contact with her at [e-mail] if they have any information.

Martin filed a report with police, who could not provide further information on the incident.