Juneau resident desperate to have stolen Tlingit regalia returned

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – After spending 10 days in Anchorage over the vacations, Taija Revels returned to her dwelling in Juneau solely to find that she had been robbed. As she and a pal approached her home, she instantly knew one thing was improper.

“After I begin coming into the home I observed that there’s wooden splinters everywhere in the entrance door,” Revels stated. “I yell out for my pal, I used to be like, I believe somebody’s damaged into the home.”

Revels opened the door to search out her condominium had been utterly ransacked. Cupboard doorways have been open, clothes had been faraway from hangers, and the home that she cleaned earlier than visiting household had been trashed.

After realizing {that a} burglar had been via, she instantly went to her bed room to test on her most prized possession.

“I noticed the garment bag that had all my regalia in it ripped open, and there was nothing there,” Revels stated combating again tears.

Conventional Tlingit regalia — made by her late grandmother and worn via generations of dancing and celebrations — have been among the many gadgets stolen. The colourful blue and purple tunic have been in Revel’s household for over 5 a long time.

Revel misplaced loads of beneficial gadgets within the theft, together with her personal wedding ceremony ring and the reward her grandfather gave her grandmother on their first wedding ceremony anniversary. She stated she would commerce all of it to get the cultural household clothes again.

“This one piece has survived once we’ve misplaced so many different items of regalia or cultural gadgets,” Revels stated. “It’s simply completely devastating.”

The Juneau Police Division did an investigation and located proof that indicated the burglar had been consuming and sleeping in Revels’ condominium whereas she was away. An arrest warrant was issued for a person that Revels stated was working a handyman for the constructing she lives in.

Based on a press launch issued by JPD on Monday afternoon, Anthony C. Perry was arrested on expenses of second-degree housebreaking and second-degree theft. Revel’s regalia has but to be recovered.

Copyright 2023 KTUU. All rights reserved.