Everett family burglarized during funeral

An Everett family who had been attending the funeral of a loved one came home from the celebration Saturday night to find their home trashed and some very special items stolen.

The Lefcourt’s had spent the day saying goodbye to a beloved father and grandfather. They had attended the funeral and then a very Irish celebration. They returned to their home to find the front door open and a downstairs window broken.

“The bedroom’s were completely trashed,” said Kathleen Lefcourt. “They had taken all of the clothes and everything out of the drawers. They had just taken everything off the dresser. That was the jewelry and the rosaries. Everything was gone.”

Lefcourt then realized her mother’s diamond engagement ring was gone and so was the gold Irish Claddagh ring she had just removed from her father’s hand a few days before. The thieves also took some small electronics and their daughter’s Girl Scout cookie money.

Lefcourt is sure her family was hit during the funeral by design.

“Because the funeral was at two o’clock, in broad daylight, they think we were targeted,” she said. “It wasn’t random. They think they probably had looked at the obituaries in the paper and found a target, and we were a good one.”

Aaron Snell with Everett Police said there isn’t enough information yet to say for sure the thieves knew about the funeral when they hit. He also said there hasn’t been a rash of these targeted funeral burglaries since a series of them in Snohomish County last year ended with several arrests.

“We haven’t really seen a defined increase in these types of crimes,” said Snell. “In the past, we have had many instances, which were about a year ago, and there were arrests made in those cases.”

The Lefcourt’s have spent the last two days going to pawn shops and buy-gold-now businesses looking for their stuff, but police said the jewelry was likely passed quickly.

All the family wants is to get those two special rings back.

“My parents were such great people and loved their Irish heritage,” said Lefcourt. “To lose these pieces of jewelry, it’s just unthinkable really.”

The family knows it’s not likely it will find the two rings, but it’s hoping they’re distinctive enough to catch someone’s attention.

The diamond ring is in the shape of two daisies and the gold ring, of which a similar ring is pictured above, features a heart with a crown being held in two hands.