Crime & Safety

Police Reveal Prowlers Stole Shoebox Full of $40K Cash in Elmhurst Burglary

The police at first would not say what the burglars took in the break-in.

The Elmhurst police tried to keep a lid on what prowlers absconded with from a house on Fellows Court earlier this month but admitted this week the crooks grabbed $40,000 cash.

The burglars also stole a woman's wedding ring and a men's gold watch during the May 17 break-in.

At first, police would only say: "Taken was approximately (redacted) from a shoebox in the closet and (miscellaneous) jewelry," but provided the additional details after Patch requested the police report under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.

The victimized couple reportedly discovered the burglary when they returned from working at their hair salon.

The wife told an officer she "immediately ran upstairs to her bedroom and looked inside her closet for her shoebox of money, but it was gone," a police report said.

The woman "stated she kept a brown shoebox wrapped in a green bag on the top shelf of the closet," the report said. "Inside of the box was approximately $40,000 (cash)."

The woman reportedly told police "some of the money is from their work earnings, and some of the money had just been received from her sister in Albania."

The couple told the officer "nobody knows about the shoebox but them," the report said. "Being from Albania, they don't have any family here or close friends."

Elmhurst Deputy Police Chief Dominic Panico failed to respond to an email asking whether anyone had been arrested in connection with the burglary or if possible suspects had been identified.

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