Moving during a pandemic is not ideal; however, for the Bartholomew family, it was a must.
Daniel Bartholomew is a First Class Petty Officer in the Coast Guard who's relocating from Maine to Oregon. Daniel and his family stopped in Aurora, Colorado, after six days of driving. The family has been staying at a local Marriot hotel, but when the family came outside on Sunday morning, they discovered that the black 1999 F350 and cargo trailer holding all their belongings were both gone.
The theft means loss of all their valuable and emotionally significant items, including Daniel’s Coast Guard uniforms and awards, sentimental family items, a family bible passed down from Daniel’s father who died when he was a young man, and even the stroller and car seat for their daughter. The family had sent some things ahead with movers, but packed up all their most important and precious items, sentimental and expensive, in the trailer to move.
Now all of that is gone, and the Bartholomews have no transportation to get themselves to Oregon.
The Bartholomew family, courtesy of Daniel Bartholomew (Facebook)
The family is left with basically nothing, with the exception of a few essential items they picked up from the store.
The Aurora community upon hearing about the theft has stepped up to help this family; the Aurora Police Department brought toys for Mabel and a friend set up a GoFundMe page, which has raised about $9,000 so far. Right now, the family is devasted at the loss of their belongings, as well as being stranded in Colorado.
If you want to help the Bartholomew family get back on their feet and back on the road, you can donate to the GoFundMe here. Both the truck and the cargo trailer have Connecticut plates on them, so if you see a vehicle matching this description contact the Aurora Police Department.
This is not the kind of thing we here in Colorado want to see happen when people pass through our amazing state. As one commenter on the fundraiser page said, “Please know that not everyone in Colorado is this heartless. We hope you can recover your belongings!”, while another added, “Colorado people care."