Stolen Tapes of Deceased Mother

[Sunlover38]

This forum reaches a lot of people, probably not criminals, but who knows. This broke my heart . . .pass it along and maybe someone, somewhere will be the one to help get these tapes back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is taken from the WZZM 13 website .. . sorry to paste it all here, but I don't know how to create a link . . . .. . . . . .. 1/12/07:

HUDSONVILLE - When Melanie Worthington found out she only had a few months to live, her fear biggest fear was that her little boy, Theo, would forget her.

Melanie made tapes and recorded special messages to her son. Those tapes were stolen in a burglary at the Worthington's Hudsonville home last month.

Theo Worthington is filled with energy. Like any five-year-old he falls down and gets his share of bumps and bruises.

Unlike others his age, though, Theo doesn't have his mom around to make it better.

"Melanie Worthington passed away from pancreatic cancer Thanksgiving weekend. Before her death, she knew her time was short, so she spent that time recording messages for Theo.

On one audio-taped message, she says, "You have to remember, Theo, that's the job God gives a mom. It's my job to make sure you turn into a good person."

That audio cassette is all that's left of countless recordings and video messages Melanie made. They were stolen along with electronics from Melanie's bedroom in the home she shared with her parents.

"They just reached up, grabbed everything they could, and went right out the door again," says Carla Worthington, Theo's Grandmother.

The family says the tapes are priceless, and the only way little Theo can know his mom.

"Thirty-nine years is not enough, but he had four-and-a-half, almost five years," says Carla Worthington. "That's all, and I so much want him to remember what she was like."

For now, Theo remembers his mom pretty well, and cried as he told us what was on the tapes.

"Well, me and mommy making cookies," Theo said, tearing up.

His family fears as the grief subsides and Theo gets older. The memories will fade, and they want the thief to know that is the biggest crime.

"Send the tapes back to me...I don't care how you do it," says Carla Worthington. "I don't want you to go to jail. I don't care about the camcorder, but those tapes are so precious to us they're all we have."

The Ottawa County Sheriff's Department says the theft is possibly related to burglaries in Allegan County. But it's been several weeks and no leads.

There is a $400 reward - half given by the Worthington family, and the other half was offered by family friends.

Anyone with information can call Silent Observer at (616) 392-4443. The family says the person responsible for taking the tapes can also return them anonymously through Silent Observer.

[michaelskis]

How could someone be so cold hearted to take something like this.

It is stories like this that infuriate me to a point where a start losing faith in humanity. My biggest worry is that the person who took them watched part of one and threw them out not thinking about it, in which case they could be lost forever.

I think that this was a great idea and something that her son would always treasure.. it is a shame what we live in a world that would allow something like this.

[Rizzo]

I think I read that the only thing taken were these tapes. I don't know about you or anyone else, but who the heck steals VHS? Someone knew what was on those tapes.

[Veloise]

I think I read that the only thing taken were these tapes. I don't know about you or anyone else, but who the heck steals VHS? Someone knew what was on those tapes.