Things are looking up for Heather Trusty, after having her laptop and belongings stolen, which contained tons of pictures and images of the Kent Storm Special Olympics team.
Trusty, who is a para-educator at Kentridge High School and does photography on the side, had her car broken into last Thursday, Oct. 18. She was shooting a senior portrait at South Seattle’s Kubota Gardens, when she returned to her car and discovered the theft. Her driver’s side passenger window was smashed and her laptop was gone.
Trusty said she panicked at the scene.
“I was just horrified. I had so many pictures in that bag,” she said. “I felt violated. There was a lot of things I felt.”
In addition to the senior photos and countless images she lost in the theft, there were photos of families of special needs children. The images were from a fundraiser that the Kent Special Olympics hosted Oct. 13.
But things have turned around slightly for Trusty.
On Saturday she will retake most of the photos of the families from the Special Olympics event.
“Everyone has been very gracious with wanting to reschedule,” said Stephanie Lisser, a Special Olympics coach and volunteer assistant to Trusty.
About 80 percent of the families will return to have their pictures taken.
After Ike Kelly, a friend of Trusty’s husband, Kevin, saw her story on TV, he offered to take her shopping for a new laptop.
It wasn’t something Trusty felt easy about doing, but she took Kelly up on his offer and is really appreciative of his generosity.
Calling him a “very wonderful friend,” she said, “(The laptop) was a very overwhelming gift to get.”
Trusty is now hard at work rescheduling shoots and preparing to edit her pictures on her new laptop.
Everyone whom she’s called to reschedule has been very supportive, the special needs families and high school seniors.
“It is what it is. I’m trying not to be upset about it anymore because there’s nothing I can do about it,” Trusty said of the incident.
Police have no suspects in the case. After the thief or thieves stole Trusty’s belongings, they used her debit card once and then discarded her cards after she had them turned off. Someone did find her identification card in a trash can and it was returned to her.
“I’m feeling much better today than I have been,” Trusty said.
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