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 Linda Thomas
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Miss Washington's crown, sash, cash stolen

February 28, 2012 @ 5:09 pm (Updated: 12:30 pm - 2/29/12 )

Someone stole Miss Washington's crown, sash and other items from her car that was parked outside her Edgewood home, packed for an early morning appearance in Everett.

The police, with the help of a GPS location service, were able to locate the vehicle within a few hours, but everything inside was gone.

Brittney"I am devastated that priceless items were taken including my Miss Washington crown and sashes, several gowns, several pairs of shoes, and my purse, checkbook, and debit and credit cards," says Brittney Henry, who competed in the Miss America pageant earlier this year. They even took her glasses.

She says thieves have been using her debit and credit cards at several stores around Federal Way, Puyallup and Tacoma.

"I would be extremely grateful if you could help me by keeping your eyes open for any of these items to appear on Craigslist or Ebay, particularly my crown and sash which are obviously one of a kind. They say Miss Washington 2011 on them," Henry says.

The crown and sash will cost at least $500 to replace.

Henry tells me physically she's doing "fine" but is "really sad and really disappointed."

"It's scary because it was stolen out of my drive way. so whoever did this knows who I am and has all of my personal information," she says.

I talked with Henry earlier this month about everything from pageants and poverty to gay marriage. She's an amazing young woman.

She's a Puyallup High School grad who is used to struggles. In class she was quiet and never spoke up for herself, even when her friends in class discussed the "leeches on the welfare system," not knowing Henry was "only able to survive" because of food stamps.

That wasn't all she was hiding. She was failing classes too. She took algebra three times.

"In one instance I failed because there was a domestic violence issue happening in my house the night before the final," says Henry. "I held my baby sister in the closet while we called 9-1-1. I didn't sleep at all that night, I showed up to school the next day, tried to act normal, and failed the test."

Pageants gave Henry the poise and confidence to speak up for herself and set goals.

By Linda Thomas

Photo, winning the Miss Washington crown in the summer of 2011, courtesy Brittney Henry

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (5)


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  • soo purletiv wrote...
    Not blaming the victim here, but......
    February 28, 2012 5:09 pm
    In the world we live in today, with headlines being as they are......

    Why would you leave these items including your purse in an unattended vehicle?

    There are way to many thieves looking for such things. They are everywhere. And I mean EVERYWHERE! There is no safe town or community anymore.

    They don't even have the courtesy to wait until dark anymore. ;-) Broad daylight, dark of night; neither have any bearing on criminals minds these days. They just look for easy and profitable.

    I agree with the words of the great A. Dodson when refering to a rapist awhile back:

    "Well, obviously we have a rapist in Lincoln Park. He's climbin in your windows He's snatchin your people up Tryna rape em so y'all need to Hide your kids, hide your wife And hide your husband cuz they're rapin everybody out here. We got your t-shirt, you done left fingerprints and all, you are so dumb! You are really dumb! For real! You don't have to come and confess We're lookin for you We gon find you, I'm lettin you no know now. So you can run and tell that, homeboy...."

    Hide everything, including your kids, your wives and your husbands. But especially your Miss Washinton crown. Words to live by........

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • stevgard wrote...
    That's a shame...
    February 28, 2012 7:54 pm
    ...that she is probably right about knowing who did this to her. ATTENTION DRUG DEALERS: DO NOT TRADE YOUR DRUGS FOR PRINCESS CROWNS. But if you do, return it to Miss W.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • froggy wrote...
    This kind of crime is rampant...
    February 28, 2012 9:44 pm
    because there is no real penalty for being found guilty. These identity thieves know they won't get much time and there is even less chance of getting caught. Not that the police don't investigate, but the law doesn't allow for much jail time and there isn't enough jail space anyway. This is all exacerbated by the clerks in stores that don't check identification well enough and by stores who don't require identification checks on every credit card purchase.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • James turnner wrote...
    wow
    February 29, 2012 2:30 am
    I will check the gay bars and see if any drag queen is wearing her crown and sash.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }