OTISCO, IN (WAVE) – Like many of her neighbors, Jennifer McConahay knows
about loss.
"We lost everything," she said of the deadly tornadoes that ripped
through southern Indiana on March 2, 2012. "We had two homes on the same
property, and both of those were gone."
That was something no one could prevent, but McConahay also has lost what
was saved from the storm.
"It's difficult trying to rebuild and have someone constantly come and
take," she said.
In August, McConahay and her family fell victim to what she believes was
pretty common in her storm-damaged section of rural Clark County: thieves who waited
for emergency response to die down and then scavenged whatever they could from
the salvaged belongings stored in sheds and barns.
"They just backed a truck up to the doors, broke open the barn doors
and helped themselves -- gun safe, guns, knife collections, jewelry,"
McConahay said.
A few weeks later, it happened again. Someone drove off with the family's
fishing boat.
Both crimes were hard to take, but they were nothing compared to the thief
who struck this year in their rebuilt but still unoccupied home.
"Apparently they realized that and kicked in the back doors and came in
and robbed us again and took what we had re-accumulated from the first two
robberies," McConahay said.
That one hurt the worst, because among what was stolen -- the TV, computers
and tools the family got for Christmas -- was something irreplaceable.
"Some of them were collections from my brother who passed away right
before the storm," McConahay said.
But the loss in communities the tornadoes hit hasn't broken a person yet, and
it didn't break McConahay, who's now living in the home that was the site of so
much bad luck.
"We're in," she said. "We went ahead and moved
in."
Deputies with the Clark County Sheriff's Office say they're still
investigating the thefts. McConahay believes they have good evidence against at
least the person responsible for the most recent burglary.
Copyright 2013, WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.
Jennifer McConahay
After surviving the March 2, 2012 tornadoes, McConahay and her family were targeted by scavengers three times.
McConahay does some work in the storage shed targeted by thieves.
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