A heartbreaking welcome to Dubbo for Alison Dance
YOU may have seen Alison Dance reporting local stories on WIN News. She’s a newby to Dubbo and on the whole the city has treated her well, despite a very bleak welcome by thieves who broke into her home on August 1, practically the week she arrived.
“I came home from work to find a brick thrown through the front window. At first it didn’t look like anyone had been into the house until I went into the bedroom and saw bindy-filled footprints, my cupboards, bedside table and even underwear drawer hanging open,” said Alison.
“My ipad was taken and my Macbook, which took a year to save for but most devastatingly contains irreplaceable photos and videos of my baby nephew who tragically passed away last year.” No one deserves this. “I hadn’t had time to unpack fully so nothing was obvious on display. My jewellery was in a shoebox and a red jewellery box that’s more like a makeup bag but both were stolen.
“I didn’t have much but it was expensive and sentimental including a full Pandora bracelet from my 18th birthday, with charms collected from overseas, birthdays and Christmases.
“A Tiffany & Co. necklace I treated myself to with my first full-time pay, a Pandora ring from my first anniversary, an opal bracelet from a childhood trip to the red centre. A string of pearls from my family for my 21st. Cameo earrings from Napoli, a special trip with my sister. A gold watch from my 18th and a Mimco necklace, two bracelets and earrings.
“A collection of rings from my high school graduation and family gifts. They even took my perfumes! Everything I’ve collected, been gifted and worked for my whole life gone.”
Alison is obviously distressed that these valuable items have been swiped so callously, knowing their personal and deep meaning is worthless to the culprits has made it a hard pill to swallow.
“A local kindly shared his hotel’s CCTV with police but they haven’t identified anyone yet nor do they have any leads with the one fingerprint they found. I’ve started an obsessive habit of scouring Facebook sales pages, Gumtree and ebay for Dubbo and a wide surrounding area. I spend outings observing peoples jewellery as the walk by just in case.”
Police believe its possible Alison was being watched and the thieves knew she was new to the area. All the more reason to keep an eye out for new neighbours and greet them to your street, extra watchful for lurking strangers.
“The police think they may have learnt my routine and are clearly confident enough to break in, in broad daylight. It makes me feel sick and unsafe to know a stranger was in my bedroom, rummaging through my belongings and stealing my only valuables but worse that nothing seems like it will be done.
“I leave the blinds permanently down for fear of a stranger watching and will never again be able to display my prized possessions in a house that should be a home.”
Being from Griffith, Alison was so excited to move back to a country area and really embrace the community as her own so it has been a massive slap in the face and incredibly disheartening.
“What completely shocks and upsets me is the attitude towards theft in a city with a crime rate well above state average. Crime seems to be accepted, just part of life in this town and little seems to be done about it,” Alison said.
“Most people I speak to aren’t surprised by my experience and recount their own break in, a neighbours or a friends. None had their
belongings returned, just another ‘stat’ on the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research which latest figures show more than 60 reported cases of break and enter (dwelling) per month from December to March. It does not inspire any confidence or any desire to settle here.”
It’s a good point Alison and something our fair city needs to get proactive in policing.
“We need to look out for each other, be outraged that heartless criminals are making our city unsafe, demand action and justice from our law enforcement and help them to deliver it. We need to be a community.”