Woman says multiple items were stolen from storage unit, facility aware of past break-ins

COLUMBIA, Mo (KMIZ)

Gray Line Storage in Columbia reportedly has a history of burglaries, a property manager told ABC 17 News on Wednesday.

According to the property manager, he had been made aware of the burglaries and notified the facility. 

Genevieve Christian said she and her fiancé were victims and had items stolen from a unit Tuesday. 

Christian said she and her fiancé went to their storage unit and found the lock had been cut and panels pushed in, indicating that someone had broken in. 

Her fiancé, Marcel Lambert, is a DJ and Christian is a small business owner. The two are planning to move in together, but needed a storage unit to place their belongings while moving. Just one month after utilizing the facility, Christian said numerous items were stolen. 

"So they took all of his music equipment, his drum set, his keyboard set, his turntables, his speakers, laptops, computer, you name it, it's gone," Christian said. 

Christian also said the Columbia Police Department is investigating the burglary, and noted that there have been past burglaries at the facility. 

Christian also said that the gate to enter the storage facility had been unlocked for weeks, and management was notified. However, as of Wednesday the gate had still not been fixed. Christian noted that management told her they are not responsible for the stolen items, and that only her insurance company can reimburse. The insurance said they will only cover $3,000 worth of stolen property, which is less than the added amount of items stolen from Christian's unit. 

While Christian said she does want someone to be held responsible for the items stolen, the most upsetting part about the burglary is the memories that cannot be bought back.

"A jewelry box that belongs to my husband's grandmother and he was re-sanding it down and it's got a lot of her jewelry in it and a lot of things that he had that was passed down to him from the family and everything so all of those are gone," Christian said. "All the jewelry's gone our memories is gone. 

The general manager of Gray line storage also told ABC 17 News that surveillance footage at the site shows multiple trucks pulling up to the facility and leaving with a motorcycle, which renters said was stolen. He also said the footage will be reviewed and looked at closer.

ABC 17 News reached out to CPD on Tuesday and it has yet to respond.