Ajijic - Break in

approximately $3,500 to $5,000

Description: I was out of town the last 4 days of August.  Had a dog sitter at the house day and night, but he left each day for 3 or 4 hours.

On 9/1 or 9/2, I realized someone had stolen about $150 US cash from an old wallet I had stashed in the house.  I just chalked it up to a lesson learned and wasn't going to pursue it any further.

However, on Tue., 9/6, something tipped me off that there was more to this crime than just the cash stolen: My maid found a piece of jewelry on the floor that I had not had out of the box for a year or more, and in a completely different room from where the jewelry box was kept. That evening, after the maid had left, I couldn't bear to look in that box where I kept my most valuable jewelry, for I knew I would be awake all night if there were pieces missing.  The next morning, on 9/7, I opened the box to discover many pieces of good jewelry gone from the box -- at least 32 pieces stolen.  Mostly gold; many pieces of great sentimental value.  

I made a "report" (of sorts) at the building near the plaza in Ajijic.  Two cops came to my house immediately.  The cops asked me to phone the dog sitter and ask him to come to the house so they could question him.  While the dog sitter was on his way, the cops left and said they'd be right back.  The dog sitter and I waited here for 3 hours, talking about the incident the whole time.  The cops never returned; I haven't seen or heard from them.  

I've learned that there have been quite a few tenants in this house and keys given out to others as well.  There was absolutely no sign of break-in, so I believe this had to be done by someone who had a key.  Possibly more than one person did the job so one could stay at the front door and watch for anyone coming down the street to return to the house.  They obviously were here for at least a few minutes, because they picked through a mix of jewelry, took what they deemed most valuable and left the rest.  They also had the time to tamper with at least 10 other closed or sealed boxes.

This has been real hard hit to me emotionally.  I feel very vulnerable and distraught to think that a person or persons paid attention to the comings and goings of my home and were in my house for awhile when no one was home.  I've had all the locks changed.  I was so distressed that I didn't know who I could trust to even tell that this happened for fear that I would give details that would set me up to be victimized somehow again.  It has taken me a week to feel alright about putting the info on this site.

Reported to Police: