WHEN Willy Miles-Grenzberg arrived home Aug. 9, he knew something was wrong, but at first he didn't know what.
The 52-year-old walked in the front door of his East 18th Avenue house to find the cloth that normally covered his beloved Larrivée guitar lying on the floor. When he walked into the living room, he found more things out of place: drawers had been pulled out; objects were strewn on the ground. When he noticed that another guitar was missing from its usual place next to the piano, it dawned on him what had happened.
"It didn't sink in right away what had happened," said Miles-Grenzberg. "(But) gradually I realized we'd been robbed."
The thieves had made off with a haul of valuables from his home - a laptop, a digital camera, a cellphone, a mixing board - and, most importantly, his five treasured guitars.
"I was in disbelief," he said. "I just couldn't believe it was happening."
Miles-Grenzberg, a professional opera singer, musician and teacher, said music is central to his life. Losing the guitars was a heavy blow.
The Larrivée I got it in 1982. . . . It's been like another appendage for me. That one is really hard to see disappear," he said. "And I always wanted a nice Martin guitar. I finally got it a couple of years ago - it was such an amazing instrument. It's gone now too."
The theft also represented a substantial financial loss. Together, the instruments were worth about $10,000, he said. They weren't insured.
"Ironically, we had just moved from West Fourth Street (in Lower Lonsdale), which is a more intense neighbourhood," he said. "We lived there for eight years, and nothing happened. Then we move to a nice neighbourhood - and boom."
Miles-Grenzberg called the North Vancouver RCMP, who sent an officer to the residence to take a report. There was not a lot she could do, however, he said. The officer recorded the information and recommended that he hunt for the missing instruments where the perpetrator might try to sell them - pawn shops, flea markets, Craigslist and so on.
Miles-Grenzberg has done those things, but so far has had no luck.
He also has few clues as to the suspect's identity. A neighbour and a construction worker who had been nearby during the threehours that the house was empty both told him they'd seen a man leaving the scene in a blue truck, possibly a Ford Ranger, but beyond that he has virtually no information. Miles-Grenzberg is hoping that by talking to the media he might find someone who saw or who knows something useful.
"I'm still working on getting the guitars back," he said. "The information is out there. . . . But I'm proceeding with life. You can't just stop and mope about things you lose."
For the time being, a friend has lent him a guitar so he can continue to teach, and some others have put together a small fundraiser to help with the instruments' replacement. It will be on Sunday evening at Cuppa Joy Coffee in Vancouver.
"One of the great things is to see how my community of friends have pulled together," said Miles-Grenzberg. "Even strangers. . . . People are really sick of this kind of thing happening."
If there's one lesson to be had out of this, he added, it's to insure valuables and get a home alarm.
Anyone with information about this incident or the guitars' whereabouts is asked to contact the North Vancouver RCMP at 604-985-1311 or email [email protected].
