While an Arkansas City family was away ? seeking medical treatment for their young son in Dallas ? someone decided to break in their home, vandalize their furniture and make off with $2,300 in stolen goods, mostly electronics.
And though the stolen property has turned up, the incident has added to what was already a stressful time for Amanda Godfrey, her husband, Buddy, and their two-year-old son Khristian.
"I just can’t imagine anybody being that low to do something like that," Alberta Babb, Amanda’s mother, says. "It’s already stressful not knowing from one minute to the next whether (Khristian) will live or die. Now this. My daughter just broke down and cried over it."
The Godfreys left for Texas more than two weeks ago. Khristian suffers from Pfeiffer Syndrome, a premature fusing of bones in the skull, and requires specialized treatment.
Babb and her husband, who also live in Ark City, were keeping an eye on a trailer home the Godfreys had rented in the 1600 block of G in Ark City. The Godfreys had even let some people stay in the trailer while they are away.
But the family recently became concerned when Babb found doors to the trailer had been left open, and that the people who had been staying there were gone. Deadbolts and no trespassing signs were placed at the home, Babb says.
Sometime late Thursday or early Friday, someone broke into the home, stole several expensive electronics items and slashed living room and bedroom furniture in the home, according to Ark City Police Chief Sean Wallace.
Police are investigating the incident, he says.
The family has suspicions about who might have burglarized the home. Through word of mouth, Babb says, they learned that those responsible were willing to return the stolen property that included a 47-inch flatscreen television less than a year old.
And the property did turn up this weekend when a person or persons visited the home of Babb’s son late at night and placed all the stolen items in a car at the residence.
"They got everything back, someone during the night put it in that car," says Babb, who figures the people responsible must know her family, since the property was returned to her son’s home which previously had no connection to the crime. "But it doesn’t change the fact their furniture was destroyed, and that’s all been very upsetting."
The family called the police and reported the return of the stolen property.
Amanda and Buddy Godfrey intend to relocate to Dallas for the time being so Khristian can receive proper care from a doctor the family likes. Babb describes the infant boy’s condition as "touch and go."
Pfeiffer sufferers can require a number of complex and high-risk surgeries.
If anyone has any information about the burglary case, please contact the Arkansas City Police Department at (620) 441-4444 or Crime Stoppers at 442-7777 or 221-7777.?
Information that helps to solve the crime could be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
