Columbia woman urges people to stay alert after two vehicles were stolen from her home during burglary

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

One Columbia resident is urging other residents to take precautions after a recent burglary in at her home.

Liana Vessell has lived in her home -- in a neighborhood just west of the University of Missouri's campus -- for 13 years with her husband and two children.

Vessel described the night of June 24 as an ordinary night. Her daughter had a few friends over to watch a movie, her son had gone out for the night and she and her husband went to bed in their bedroom upstairs. Around 2:30 a.m. she was awaken to a car backing out of her driveway.

"I peeked out the window because it happens to be right below my bed and saw that it was my son's car leaving," Vessell said. "So, I looked at my phone and saw it was 2:30 in the morning and was a little concerned that was happening at that stage."

Vessell said she quickly called her son, only for the call to be sent to voicemail and to find him asleep in his bedroom. Her daughter's door was also shut.

Running down the stairs, Vessell said she soon realized that her car, a BMW was also leaving the driveway from her home on Ridgeley Road.

"I ran out the kitchen door and I can see like a party going on...I got three cars headlights at 2:30 in the morning driving away from my house," Vessell said.

Vessell said she immediately called police who arrived at her home within five minutes, and soon realized that although all doors to her home were locked, the French doors to her sun room were pushed in. She said she and her husband later found out that the doors locked, but weren't properly secured. She said they have taken precautions since the incident.

Vessell said the people who stole her cars rummaged through envelopes, opened up cabinets within the house, went through Vessell's work bag and took her wallet that had multiple credit cards and her ID. The thieves also went through a door in the kitchen that held two spare key fobs to the family's vehicles.

She said the most alarming part was knowing the suspects were in her home without her, or her family, knowing.

"Petrified, just knowing that all this was going on...six minutes is a really long time," Vessell said. "I'm more than grateful that they'd already exited the house and were you know, not on foot and I didn't have to come in contact with them... But it's really scary and after you come back they have both key fobs, one of the key fobs has a key to my house for all the exterior doors."

Linda Keown has lived in the same neighborhood since 2011. Keown said burglaries in the area aren't new, and that she was almost victim to one when she moved in.

"It seems like there's you know, a couple every year, some more serious than others," Keown said. "I think the problem is the perception is that this is a neighborhood with people who have lots of good stuff to steal, which is not at all the case."

According to data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, there have been 130 burglaries in Columbia between January-May. There were 151 reported burglaries in the city between the same time frame in 2023.

Data also shows 57.7% of burglaries this year have occurred at a residence or home. It also shows that 66.2% of burglaries included non-forceful ways of entering a residence, with most occurring on a Wednesday between midnight-2:59 a.m.

Vessell said she was able to locate her stolen vehicles by using a tracker installed in her vehicle through an app. She said both her and her son's cars were parked at a housing complex, along with a third vehicle that was still warm and had some of her belongings scattered around it.

Vessell noted her home had a security system that was not alarmed the night of the burglary and urges people to make the necessary adjustments at their homes and remain vigilant.

"If our security system would have been armed, I have to believe that they would have opened the door and it would have went off," Vessell said. "I do think the main piece to all of this is that you can live in the best area of town, the nicest communities, have the best neighbors and still unfortunately now it's going beyond just someone you know, trying to see if your car is unlocked... It's just really important to be safe."