Thieves steal from bride and groom during wedding
By Russell Kinsaul
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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Missouri (KMOV) — The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a car break-in that occurred at the Sandy Creek Covered Bridge Historic Site on May 28. While Daniel and Dianna Sikes were exchanging their wedding vows, a thief was breaking into her car and stealing important personal documents.
“I’m trying not to be too frustrated because I don’t want them to have had that power to ruin our day,” said Dianna Sikes.
The couple said they fell in love with the park for their wedding venue and the ceremony went perfectly. That is until they walked out to the parking lot and noticed two broken windows on the passenger side of the car.
“We walked over there and I seen it, I was just, I was ticked,” said Daniel Sikes.
Dianna said she wasn’t sure what documentation she would need for the marriage license so she brought her birth certificate, social security card and even her deceased husband’s death affidavit. The thief got those documents as well as her purse that had her checkbook, medications and her glasses. The thief also stole the matron-of-honor’s purse, which had a checkbook and a handgun.
Now the couple is scrambling to close bank accounts and replace documents before the thief can steal her identity and drain their accounts.
“Courthouse to get the marriage license certified so she could get her ID. And once we’re done there we have to go to the bank to get our bank account information changed completely. They’re talking about getting us all new accounts,” he said.
The couple said the car had tinted windows and the items in the car were covered. They believe the thief saw the bride and matron-of-honor get out without carrying their purses and saw an opportunity. The sheriff’s department has assigned a detective to the case.
The park has a surveillance camera, but the Sikes said they were told it was struck by lightning and disabled in a recent storm. Recently, Dianna changed her car insurance from full coverage to liability coverage, so insurance won’t be able to cover the $530 cost to replace the windows.
The sheriff’s department recommends that you leave any valuables in the trunk of your car.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the couple recover from their losses from the car break-in.
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