WISCONSIN COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM FAMILY HOME News :: Grinched: Monona Family Finds Christmas Presents Stolen:
It's a bad case of 'Bah Humbug' at the Hemmer house in Monona this Christmas. The family is still recovering from the shock of returning home after a daytrip to Chicago on Christmas Eve, to find their house robbed.

'All the presents were gone,' said husband John Hemmer.

'I spent months trying to find gifts that were meaningful for my kids and somebody took them,' said his wife Sandra.

When the Hemmers came home Sunday night, they quickly noticed the thief didn't stop at the Christmas tree. The burglar or burglars ripped a flatscreen television off a wall, tore down a movie projector, and swiped every single computer in the house.

Hemmer said it appeared the point of entry was the bedroom window, left a crack open during the unusually warm Sunday weather.

"They took our pillow cases and they loaded it with everything," said John Hemmer, who showed us one bag stuffed with DVD's still laying on his bed.

The family is still unsure of the motive. "Easy target, I don't know," said Hemmer. "We were gone. Part of me says somebody cased our house, somebody knew us. We're very social people, we have people in our house all the time."

The family's daughter said she was most angered by finding her cat locked in the closet.

John Hemmer said, "This is literally the grinch that stole christmas."

The degree of the theft was similar to the Doctor Seuss classic, right down to stolen cameras and harddrives containing nearly every single photograph of the family together.

Hemmer said losing those memories is making him sick. That has him asking for one wish from the Christmas scrooge.

"Bring my pictures back," he said he'd say to the burglar. "You can keep the rest of it. Keep the computer, just give me back the hard drive."

Hemmer estimates he lost at least $20,000 worth of valuables.

That doesn't include his work truck, which was also stolen from his driveway while his family was gone.

Monona police say the robbery occurred between 5:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Sunday. Police describe the stolen vehicle as a Ford F-150 white pick-up truck, with Wisconsin license plate AD 1425. It also has the name "Cross Country Cable" written on the side.

Anyone with information is asked to call Madison area Crimestoppers at 266-6014.

Updated: December 25, 2006, 8:12 pm