Police have appealed to motorists in the Burnham-On-Sea area to check their dashcam footage if they travelled through Bridgwater on Tuesday after a removal van full of property was stolen.
Officers were called at 11.10am on Tuesday 10th November by a driver reporting the theft.
The white Ford Transit, registration KN60 BFP, had been left briefly unattended in Taunton Road near to the Londis store.
The stolen van was full of the property of a lady in her 60s who was in the process of moving home.
“The van contained items of huge sentimental value as well as all her furniture, clothing, household goods and personal papers, described as “her whole life”,” says a Police spokesman. “The theft has understandably caused her great distress.”
“A handbag belonging to the lady was found in the river near Aller and handed in by a member of the public.”
The spokesman asks: “Were you on Taunton Road at the time? Do you have any dashcam footage? Do you know where the van is now?”
The woman, Linda Lye, 68, from Taunton, was moving to enjoy her retirement by the coast in Bournemouth, and lost everything including photos, jewellery and even her mother’s ashes. The family were planning to scatter the ashes after the pandemic was over.
Her son, Andy Lye, said on Friday: “Mum’s devastated. Her whole life was in the van, furniture, paintings, her clothes. Everything’s gone. All the stuff she’d built up over 68 years. The only clothes she was left with were those she was wearing.”
If you have any information which could help the investigation call 101 quoting reference 5220253970. Alternatively, ring the independent charity Crimestoppers 100 per cent anonymously on 0800 555 111.
