SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga's Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center is home to some historic pieces.
Or was home.
“Absolutely feels like an invasion," said Sarah Thurston, marketing manager for the center.
Thurston and other employees were downstairs on March 22 when Spokane Police say 57-year-old Patrick Brown stole several items, many of them silver.
“You can see here from her jewelry case several pieces are missing," Thurston said, pointing out on the acrylic display cases where the lock was pried open.
The suspect also made his way into a part of the exhibit of Woldson's items that few see from the inside: the replica of the interior of several rooms of her Spokane home, containing her furniture and other antique items.
Thurston points out a footprint still staining the doorframe where the suspect tried to make his way in.
“He started to kick this and it didn’t kick open so he used some sort of pry tool," Thurston said.
Employees later found the door on the ground and several items inside missing or moved; Thurston wonders if the suspect didn't plan to come back for more after his backpack was filled.
Thurston says most of the 31 items taken from the Myrtle Woldson center haven't been recovered.
Surveillance video helped point Spokane Police Department (SPD) to Brown, who they later connected to several more burglaries and thefts.
Part of that connection, said Spokane Police Lieutenant Rob Boothe, came from the assistance of the public. In one case, someone saw broken glass at Fairmount Cemetery and witnessed a man running away. SPD says that man was Brown, who was later caught nearby with cuts on his hands, consistent with breaking into the glass mausoleum niches.
“I think that’s what captures peoples’ attention is, ‘Oh that’s crazy,'" Lt. Boothe said. "There's no rules for people committing these type of crimes."
“Was I surprised it happened? Just a bit," said Lucile Keogh, whose husband's niche was one of those burglarized. "As I say, it’s life and you kind of have to go with life. You have to pick up the pieces and keep going.”
The pieces Keogh is still looking for belonged to Patrick.
“Yeah, he died on the 30th of December last year," she said.
A missing watch. Moneyclip. A wooden keychain. Little things not worth much, at least in dollars.
“More sentimental, very sentimental," Keogh said. "They represented my husband or part of him.”
She's hoping someone sees the Boise-Cascade insignias on much of the stolen items. That they see the significance of these small things. To reconnect these missing pieces.
“It’s what my goal is or what I’ve been trying to do for several months now," she said.
“When it’s really unique, someone is going to see it and that happens more often than not," Lt. Boothe said.
Brown is still in jail, facing multiple counts of burglary, theft, and other charges. He has 23 felony convictions including 11 for burglary and 2 for attempted burglary.
SPD is asking the public to report to Crime Check at (509) 456-2233 if they recognize any of the stolen items.
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