SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. — It's anyone's worst nightmare, an entire unit of storage emptied without a trace of where things may be.
"Why me? Why everything? How do you do this to someone," Kristin Vidile said.
The New York native just moved down to the city in November and put her things in a storage unit at the UHaul on 2nd Ave. S. On March 7, everything was stolen.
"Everything that will go in that moving truck was in the storage space, so all of my furniture, every single towel, everything," Vidile said.
Plus, her memories, like pictures of her grandfather at war, were also taken. She had so many boxes in the unit, she needed a larger space and asked for another unit on March 4. A few days later she came back to check in with the unit's staff and found out her unit had been broken into.
"Came back and there was a different lock on my unit door. Then it was this wild goose chase kind of thing that the staff didn't know why there was a different lock and they're looking over the door with a flashlight saying to me, 'Are you sure this thing was packed? I can see the back wall,'" Vidile said.
The manager had to drill the lock to open it and everything was gone. Kristin's photos of the surveillance video show three men moving things out into a truck that was rented from the facility.
"It's just — it's heartbreaking. It's just everything that you've acquired. My entire adult life is gone. Memories from childhood and you know, just why did they have to take that stuff? Why couldn't they just take my furniture just take my clothes," Vidile said.
St. Petersburg police are now investigating, trying to figure out who the three men are. Investigators say one man was the leader of the group. He had hired the other two movers to help. He stopped at a bank three minutes away to take out $240 to pay them.
"When the police arrived on scene, they realized multiple storage units within that facility were also burglarized," Sgt. Lindsey Quelli said.
Quelli says Kristin's lock was cut for them to get access and that isn't uncommon. Storage unit thefts are up not just in the Bay area, but nationwide.
"They cut the locks. Sometimes they enter one of those storage units next to and they actually climb over the wall and access the other storage unit," Vidile said.
While police try to piece this together, Kristin's message to anyone who has a storage unit is to stay vigilant.
"Be careful about what you put in storage, especially if there are things that can not be replaced. Be careful about what they place in storage and check to make sure that you have confidence the facility that you're storing with and their abilities to store your things safely," Vidile said.
Detectives say the three men who stole from Kristin could possibly be involved in the other thefts at the UHaul, but they can't say for sure right now.
A few tips from police to secure your items:
- Make sure your lock is secure
- Don't give your key or combination to others
- Check on your unit multiple times
- Ask what security measures are in place. Are their gates, codes, or security guards in place?
- Ask if you can install your own personal surveillance system or alarm