Ledger-Dispatch

By Raheem Hosseini (editor@ledger-dispatch.com= )=20

Castle Oaks resident Linda Hall eyes = the empty=20 spot where her mother's urn once sat. She is offering a $500 = reward for=20 its return.

Photo by: Raheem=20 Hosseini
After a delay-filled flight that = took them=20 from the Bahamas to Houston and finally Sacramento, the Halls arrived = home in=20 Ione last week just wanting to drop their luggage and get some sleep. = But a=20 ransacked home would make an already long night even longer, and change = the way=20 the Halls see their peaceful community.

The Ione Police = Department is=20 still investigating the burglary of the Halls' one-story, 2,300 = square-foot home=20 in the suburb of Castle Oaks, a crime that is believed to have taken = place some=20 time over the Fourth of July weekend. Linda and Jordan Hall discovered = the crime=20 shortly after midnight on July 7, when they saw a house in disarray - = cabinet=20 doors open, their belongings rifled through and broken glass in the = garage - and=20 felt their stomachs drop.

"We've been robbed," Jordan=20 blurted.

Fifteen minutes later, Ione police were pulling = fingerprints and=20 searching for clues. Three television sets, three computers and two huge = jewelry=20 cases filled with upwards of $30,000 worth of jewelry were among the = missing=20 items. But that wasn't the worst of it. Someone had taken the urn with = Linda's=20 mother's ashes in it, a green container with an ornate, swirling pattern = on=20 it.

"That's been the most upsetting thing for me," an emotional = Linda=20 said. "Insurance will cover everything else, but that can't be=20 replaced."

She's hoping she won't have to. Linda is offering a = $500=20 reward for the urn's reappearance and has set up an e-mail account where = she can=20 be reached: returntheurn@gmail.com.

Meanwhile, investigators = continue to=20 piece together a puzzle that looks more and more like an inside job, = committed=20 by someone possibly known to the Halls.

That isn't rare when it = comes to=20 residential burglaries, say law enforcement officials in Ione and the=20 county.

"We do see some where it is an inside job, a family = member, a=20 friend, something like that," said Ione police Sgt. Rocky Harpham. "Some = of the=20 others are crimes of opportunity."

The city has averaged six = residential=20 burglaries a year since 2006, Harpham said, and most fall into one of = the above=20 two categories. The burglary at the Halls' residence may have been a = little of=20 both.

One neighbor saw an old, beige or bronze sedan in the = driveway at=20 some point over the holiday weekend, while the neighbor's husband = noticed the=20 Halls' garage door was open the morning of July 4. When the neighbors = returned=20 from a trip to the lake later that day, the garage door was still open. = The=20 neighbor saw mysterious bits of broken glass on the floor when he went = to close=20 the garage door, but put it out of his mind because he wasn't aware the = Halls=20 had been away on vacation that week.

"One of the things we've = gotten away=20 from is talking to your neighbors and letting them know when you're = gone," said=20 Amador County Undersheriff Jim Wegner, who describes residential = burglaries as a=20 cyclical crime that's more common in the eastern half of the county, = where more=20 vacation homes are left unattended for extended periods of the year. The = winter,=20 with its holidays spaced closely together, and summer, when the kids are = out of=20 school, are the peak times for burglaries.

Normally, the Halls = tell their=20 neighbors when they're going away on vacation, Linda said. This was the = only=20 time she can remember forgetting.

Wegner said the sheriff's = office has=20 closed its share of property crime cases off tips from astute neighbors. = Wegner=20 also said doing simple things like placing bushes beneath first-floor = windows=20 and installing motion sensor lighting can reduce the chances of=20 burglary.

"People need to harden their targets and lock their = doors and=20 windows," he said. "I mean, it's amazing how many people don't lock = their doors=20 and windows."

Both the sheriff's office and local police = departments also=20 allow residents to place their homes on a vacation check list when = they're=20 planning on being away.

The sheriff's office has already = responded to=20 three residential burglaries this month, including one that took place = in=20 Pioneer around the same time as the Halls.' A sliding glass door was = knocked off=20 its track some time over the weekend and numerous items were stolen, = including=20 an antique sewing machine, tools, clothing, a pellet gun and an = assortment of=20 knives. Wegner said tools and weapons are favorite spoils for burglars. = The=20 owners of the home were in the process of moving. There was also a = burglary at a=20 Jackson Valley residence, where $3,000 worth of items were stolen, and = one at a=20 Willow Creek residence. Property crime investigators saw no signs of = forced=20 entry at the Jackson Valley location.

In the meantime, Linda = isn't=20 leaving her home until an alarm system is installed, she said. They're = also=20 changing codes on their garage door opener, which is how police believe = the=20 perpetrators gained entry. Months ago, the Halls' garage door opened=20 inadvertently. An electronic opener also went missing some weeks back. = During a=20 lengthy search, investigators found tire marks in the garage. Some of = the glass-=20 and dishware stored in the garage for home parties had been driven over = or=20 smashed and the locked door leading from the garage into the main house = had been=20 broken through.

The home is across from three empty lots. A = slender=20 walkway bordered by plants and flowers leads to a somewhat concealed = main entry.=20 Most of the windows, except for the one in the office, are hidden from = view,=20 leading Linda to imagine the crime as it was in process.

"The = more and=20 more I think about it, it just seems like they took their time with = this," she=20 said of the burglars.

It's prompted a decision Linda hadn't = anticipated.=20 She and her husband are having a wireless alarm system installed some = time this=20 week.

"I just never thought we needed it," Linda said. "I always = thought=20 this place was so safe and wonderful."

The Halls moved to Castle = Oaks two=20 years ago from Elk Grove, where the couple owns and operates a = successful party=20 rental business.

"We moved up here because we wanted to get away = from Elk=20 Grove and all the crime," Linda said, noting the irony.

Raheem = Hosseini