CALIFORNIA COMPUTER STOLEN News - Laptop thief stole more than computer - sacbee.com

Laptop thief stole more than computer

Each time the laptop computer powered up, a smiling picture of Catherine Lee, with her long black hair pulled into a ponytail over her shoulder, would fill the entire screen.

She sat in a shimmering stream, with one leg over the other.

Leng Lee, her father, said the picture was taken at camp a few years ago, before she became ill with cancer. Catherine died last November, on Thanksgiving. She was 13.

On a Monday afternoon two weeks ago, Lee came home from work to find his two-story Meadowview home had been ransacked and the laptop stolen, along with a DVD player and some jewelry.

"I cried for three days," said Brooke Herr, Catherine's mother. "Something that we so cherished was taken away from us."

Numerous irreplaceable photos of her daughter, of Catherine and her siblings, of family birthdays and vacations, were stored in the Hewlett-Packard notebook.

Police detectives say they have exhausted all leads trying to solve the Oct. 22 burglary in the 7600 block of Beth Street and are appealing to the public for help.

"Our main motivation is to get the computer back," spokesman Sgt. Matt Young said.

Detectives would like to solve the crime, but Young said anyone with the laptop computer is encouraged to drop it off at the police station on Freeport Boulevard or any substation.

There will be no questions asked, Young said.

Anyone with information regarding the theft or whereabouts of the computer is urged to contact Sgt. Lisa Maneggie at (916) 277-6001.

The laptop was a gift from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions to bring hope and joy to them and their families.

Herr said her daughter, who was diagnosed with spinal cancer in September 2006, received the gift shortly before she died. Even though she was very ill at that time, when she saw the laptop, her eyes lit up, Herr said.

Lee said Catherine wanted the laptop so she could surf the Internet, check out her MySpace account and chat with friends. The family's oldercomputer was too slow, he said.

The theft is forcing Herr and Lee to relive the experience of losing their daughter.

At the couple's modest home on Thursday, they showed a reporter a scrapbook that Catherine was working on before she died. She had decorated the cover with pink flower patterns, and filled some pages with photographs of her family and friends and of herself as a baby.

The couple spoke reluctantly.

"I just don't want to go through it again," Herr said with tears in her eyes.

The couple initially had declined to be interviewed and said they did not want the publicity nor were they seeking charity.

Neighbors noted the tight-knit family kept mostly to themselves.

If it's God's will, Herr said, authorities will retrieve the stolen items and their laptop; if not, the family will move on.

"The memories of her are in our heart," Herr said, pressing a hand to her chest.