An Edmonton couple is turning to the public in hopes of finding priceless family photos and delivering a message of optimism to the thieves responsible.

On December 7, only two days after moving in, Melissa and Leighton Sealey’s home, located in the Castledowns neighbourhood of Dunluce, was robbed.  

“We just moved in from the country, so this is the first house we bought. We were excited, but anxious too – it’s a new place and a new neighbourhood,” said Leighton.

After returning to their house at around 9 p.m., the couple was shocked to learn someone had broken in.

“We noticed in the kitchen that the fridge door and freezer door were open – and that was kind of strange…then we saw the [exterior door] and knew someone had been in here,” Leighton explained.

Along with a keyboard, several guitars, and some jewelry, the thieves also made-off with a very special camera which contained a priceless SD card.

“At eight days old [my son] had [heart] surgery. Pretty much all of those photos were on the SD card,” Melissa explained.

“All of my daughter’s photos […] from birth all the way to five months. So I have nothing,” she said.

Other than items that could potentially be resold for a quick profit, even more alarming for the couple was how desperate the culprits appeared to be.

“They took some frozen chicken, french fries, ketchup, snap peas, bread and sausage – it tells us that they were desperate for food,” Leighton said.

“I don’t think these are bad people. I think these are desperate people that don’t know what to do […] and they need to feed their family and get some money,” he added.

Plastering social media and online classifieds in hopes of getting her SD card back, Melissa trusts that someone will realize the value of what was stolen and come forward.

“What they did was wrong, but I get it,” she said. “If you bring [the SD card] back, I am willing to get you the groceries that you need and whatever you need for your family […] I will not call the police.”

According to the couple, the thieves were courteous and likely removed their shoes before going into the house – the floors weren’t dirty and nothing was broken.

So far, the Sealey’s have not received any leads.

With files from Kim Smith