Katrina survivor in Denver pleads for help in recovering stolen family photos

Hurricane Katrina destroyed thousands of homes when it hit the Gulf Coast 20 years ago. It also displaced thousands of people, some of whom made a new home in Colorado. Now, one of those who calls Denver home is pleading for the return of some sentimental items he claims are priceless. 

For some, a picture is worth 1,000 words. For 29-year-old Dustin, however, the ones he kept in his garage were worth so much more than that.

"I would say 100 photos, things sewn by my great grandma, little keepsakes, the shoes I had when I was a baby," said Dustin. "Just things that are irreplaceable." 

Those photos were all he had left of his childhood, after Hurricane Katrina hit his Mississippi home in 2005.

"When I was nine years old, it hit my hometown of Bay St. Louis," he said. "When we finally made it back to our house, [the] flooding was around 25-26 feet, so everything washed out of the house."

Yet, a container of photos endured the flooding.

"'They actually floated," said Dustin. "You could see the line of mud around the edges of the container, but none had actually gotten into it. So, it was kind of like a Katrina miracle."

Family photos, all of his baby photos, and the only pictures of his parents were inside that box. He cherished those even more after both his parents died several years later.

"This feels like losing my family a second time," said Dustin.

On Sept. 3, Dustin forgot to close his garage door when he left for work. At the time, he'd only been living in his new home on West Colfax Avenue for a month and was not used to having to be mindful of closing his garage door.  

"When I returned home, the garage had already auto-closed, and I didn't notice until Saturday that my things were missing."

A ring camera caught video of someone walking inside his garage that day and looking around before later coming back and stealing a green storage cart with several items inside. His family photos were in a box inside the cart.

"I felt my heart drop. I didn't know how to react. It felt like someone pulled out the floor from under me," he said. "My biggest worry is that somebody threw them away."

Now, he is holding out hope for a new miracle and is offering a $10,000 reward for anyone who will help bring these memories back to him.

"Ten thousand dollars was a good chunk of my savings that I could put out there, without putting the rest of my life at harm," said Dustin. "I just say, please return them, they don't mean anything to you, but they mean everything to me."

Denver police said the burglary is still under investigation and no arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers.