It was a very sour welcome to the Bay Area for a couple who just moved from Canada.
According to Jeff and Nicole Lange, their U-Haul was stolen outside their new home in Milpitas. Jeff says he is now combing eBay, Facebook and local swap meets, looking for the precious items that were stolen from his U-Haul truck that was parked near Dixon Landing Park.
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WATCH HEREThe Lange family said they moved with their 11-month-old son, so Jeff could pursue his engineering dream job.
Jeff told NBC Bay Area Wednesday that he drove this packed U-Haul 25 hours from Canada to Milpitas. But hours after he arrived, thieves stole the truck with nearly all the family’s belongings inside.
“I was very angry. Now, I’m just more kind of sad that we've lost a lot of our sentimental stuff, that we can’t really get back,” he said.
Those irreplaceable items include the blue suit Jeff wore on his wedding day and cape topper from their wedding cake. Also missing is a picture Jeff drew for Nicole for their anniversary, an autographed book she gave him and ceramics Nicole’s mother brought with her when she escaped communist Poland.
But Jeff said it’s a computer with an aluminum case and water cooler on the back he wants returned the most.
“There’s a computer I’ve had for 20 years and I kind of kept upgrading it,” he said. “It has years worth photos, and just documents and my tax returns, my whole life the last 20 years is gone.”
Police found the U-Haul on Monday but when Jeff went to check it out, he saw that nearly everything was gone including treasured milestone markers
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SIGN UP “There was memorabilia from my son’s first year of life, you know, like the hair from his first haircut,” Jeff said.
“We’re just really in a state of shock and sadness right now,” Nicole said.
The couple hopes someone will recognize their belongings and drop them off at a local police department. The family is so rattled by the theft, they now plan to move out of the Milpitas neighborhood where it happened.
