A couple from Bay Harbor Islands is sharing their emotionally painful story after having their lives stolen from them.
The German couple, who does not want to be identified, had their condo broken into on December 1st. The thieves cracked their safe, ransacked drawers and closets, and got away with $500,000 worth of their belongings.
"All this stuff from anniversaries, birthday's for whatever, for me it's so important I get back this stuff," the victim said.
"Cash like $15,000 in 100 notes, $10,000 in Euro... these were presents from the birth of my kids. I have four kids."
And the couple is offering a huge reward for the return of years of memories.
"When we get back every items, we will pay until $50,000."
And they are not alone. Another Bay Harbor couple, who also does not want their names released was hit by a heist. The thieves got away with cash, jewelry and mementos. And their safe was also not safe.
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"It was pried out of our closet floor. It was bolted down to the concrete," the victim said.
Police say it was a forced entry into their condo, just blocks from the first couple. This time the family was robbed of three generations of sentiment, worth $450,000.
"Most of the jewelry was bequeathed to her by her mother and grandmother and we were holding jewelry that belongs to our daughter."
"I feel violated. This is about the closest thing a man could feel to being raped," her husband said.
This couple is also offering a big reward.
"Seeing how things are going, I would like to say I would like to make it $20,000."
It's believed they were being watched. The crooks knew when they were home and when they weren't.
The burglary of these couples has all the marking of nine different break-ins in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade County.
Police Chief Sean Hemingway has surveillance video from a Hillsboro Beach condo break-in last month. The video clearly shows three men breaking in.
"They make notification via phone... find out if the victim is home," Chief Hemingway said. The thieves forced their way into a secured lobby, then forced their way into the residence.
"They spend anywhere between 20-to-30 minutes up to an hour and then they leave. In some cases they remove the surveillance equipment," Hemingway said.
Police believe these suspects are a part of the same organized crime ring.
More security camera video from another heist in Fort Lauderdale in February shows three different suspects, presumably from the same group, doing their dirty work.
All three, not shy, and not concerned with the security camera. At different times, they all look right into the lens.
$70,000 is a lot of reward money, perhaps enough to encourage someone to rat out the culprits. And the chief has a message.
"If you are the suspects in this case, the word to them, is we're very close and we're going to arrest you."
