'He lost everything': Victim's family says priceless Osage Nation regalia stolen in Park Hill car theft
A family in the Park Hill neighborhood is hoping to be reunited with family heirlooms that were stolen from their vehicle early Tuesday morning.
Several pieces of Osage Nation regalia are gone after someone stole Jan Jacobs' car containing the items on Pontiac street. Jan had just returned from a ceremony in Oklahoma. They're items that hold generations of significance for the Jacobs family.
"They're many things in there that have special meaning to begin with. He lost everything, from the eagle feather, all the way down to his moccasins, everything," Jan told CBS4. "It makes me upset that somebody feels like it's OK to go to someone's house break into their car and just take it."
The Jacobs are the owners of the Denver Native American restaurant Tocabe. Many of the heirlooms were passed down for nearly 100 years, but now Jan's son Ben won't be able to continue that tradition for his sons.
"Our clothing that we have, and what we wear, are really who we are," said Ben. "All these items I'm wearing in that photo, knowing my children won't ever have that, my grandchildren won't ever have that… that's the thing that's hard to deal with."
And the Jacobs family isn't the only one becoming victims of auto theft. Denver police data shows that over the last three years, there's been a 95 percent increase in auto thefts in the city. In 2021, there were 12,515, and this year so far-- over 7,500. For the Jacobs family, they don't care much to get the car back, they just want the pieces of their culture and heritage returned.
"Find that little piece of kindness in your heart, and give those things back to us, because to us they're everything," Jan said.
The Jacobs family is offering a $5,000 reward for the return of the regalia. The car stolen is a Blue Honda CRV with Colorado license plate 988-WET. Police are continuing to investigate the crime. Anyone with information is urged to contact police or reach out to the Tocabe restaurant.
