March 14, 2008
We were sitting in the café reading our e-mails and browsing the internet…completely unaware of what was going on around us. That made us an easy target. When we were finished, we started gathering our things together, but Krystle couldn’t find her bag. We spent several minutes looking around the couches where we were sitting, the car, the bathroom—anywhere we could think of, but it was nowhere to be found. The couple that had been sitting nearest to us had been gone for fifteen or twenty minutes now, leaving more than half of their drinks still on the table. We hated to cast any blame on them, but we had no idea where the bag could have gone, so we approached the manager.
After watching surveillance video, the manager came out to explain how it had happened. The woman came in and sat down at the chair next to Krystle. After a few minutes, she stood up, went to the bar, and returned with a man. She sat down in the same spot, her chair only a foot or two from Krystle, and he sat down across from her. Eventually, the woman used her foot to slide Krystle’s bag from beside our couch over to the man across from her. He picked it up and they walked out together, driving off in their white BMW.
How did we miss it? We had no idea until well after they had gotten away with it. Fortunately, her passport was not in the bag, as well as her bible, our team finance notebook, and her computer—all of which she had taken out just that day. They did, however, make it off with over one-hundred dollars in local cash, her camera, flash drive, four credit/debit cards (including our team bank card), her headlamp, computer charger, and other small items. Praise God, she was able to cancel the credit cards before they had an opportunity to use them. Megan and I felt so bad, but at that point there wasn’t much we could do.
We all went over to the police station and Krystle filed a report. What an event that was. I wish I had video of the officer that “helped” her open the case. She was unbelievably apathetic about her job, and wore it all over her demeanor. At one point Krystle asked what a specific paper was for and the officer nonchalantly shrugged and said something to the effect of, “I don’t know; I just do what they tell me to.”
The biggest bummers are the camera and computer charger, but Krystle’s been impressively optimistic about the whole situation. We are praying a seven-fold blessing over her stolen items. *big smile* And also trying to figure out how to regain access to our team bank account. We appreciate your prayers over this situation.
