‘Lambie was her best friend’: Burglars take child’s beloved stuffed toy
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A mother is asking car burglars to return a stuffed animal her five-year-old daughter has slept with since she was born.
The toy lamb was inside one of two backpacks snatched from the mother’s minivan parked outside a children’s dentist office in East Memphis Tuesday afternoon.
The mom, who didn’t want to be identified, said she was with two of her children when someone broke into her vehicle at Poplar and Evergreen.
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She said when they came out of the dentist office, her back driver’s side window was shattered, the front driver’s side window was cracked, and her children’s school bags were gone.
“I’m assuming that they assumed that our children had technology or something because why would you take two kids backpacks? I don’t know what you think you’re getting out of that,” she said.
She said the thieves didn’t get anything of value but left with a stuffed animal named Lambie, which is priceless to her daughter.
“My sweet baby cried in my arms, telling me her heart was broken into 100 pieces. Lambie was her best friend. For a five-year-old, it’s the end of the world.”
She said someone found her son’s backpack at the Kroger at Cleveland and Poplar, and she hopes the burglars dump her daughter’s bag as well.
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In the meantime, strangers on Nextdoor have offered a $100 reward for the return of Lambie. People have also been looking for a replacement stuffed animal online.
“I think one lady found what looks exactly like Lambie before it was well-loved, which is wonderful. Lambie had a music box, and ours was broken,” she said. “My daughter has had the best attitude about it. She’s like, ‘You know, Mommy, maybe I can get one of the new ones, and that music box won’t be broken.'”
The mother of four said this is not the first time her family has been the victim of a car break-in. She said on Christmas Eve, someone stole Christmas gifts from her husband’s car while he was in the emergency room at Methodist.
She said it’s obvious the community is fed up with crime, and it’s something you shouldn’t have to explain to her young child.
“Her lessons at this age should be taught by losing stuff because of her own irresponsibility, not because they are taken from her by seemingly grown adults.”
Police said surveillance video showed the suspects were in a black Chevy with the Tennessee tag #BQH5797. They said the tag was reported stolen on Monday.
If you have seen the car, the stuffed animal, the backpack or have information that can help investigators, call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.
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