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Police seek help identifying suspects after burglars ransack West Valley City home

Posted at 6:38 PM, Feb 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-08 20:38:14-05

WEST VALLEY CITY – A married couple of 37 years has lived in their West Valley City home for 22 years together, and on Tuesday morning three crooks disrupted their precious memories and stole their valuables.

“Found the front door was left open, which was strange,” explained Gary Smith. “Walked around the corner and master bedroom had been destroyed. There was stuff all over the place in there.”

He and his wife were at work before 9 a.m., then Gary came home earlier than usual because he had a stomach flu. That’s when he walked into his home to see someone had been inside it.

His home surveillance cameras captured the entire intrusion. A man and two women had been knocking on his neighbors' doors in the morning, trying to find a house where it appeared no one was home. No one answered Gary’s door, so that is the one they entered. The suspects smashed the basement window and went inside.

“They made a big mess of the house, and, obviously, the glass window made a big mess, but we will get through it slowly but surely," Smith said. "I'd just like to get them caught and off the street so it doesn't happen to anybody else.”

The suspect had cut his arm on the glass window; Gary boarded it up and cleaned up the trail of blood the man left through the house.

The suspect walked out of the house with several laptops, an iPad, and a 150-pound safe.

“The ring is my mom’s wedding ring that my dad gave to her in 1940 that she let me use to give to my wife for our wedding," Smith said. "The ruby ring was a gift given to my wife from a friend, and they also took a pearl necklace that her dad had given her.”

Gary just wants the public’s help in recognizing the criminals inside his home. They also were seen parked in his driveway in a late-1970s model white pickup truck.

If you can help identify the suspects, call West Valley City Police at 801-840-4000.