Thieves steal priceless memento

A Whangarei mother is distraught after thieves stole a priceless bone carving belonging to her late daughter.
Anna Wilson was at work at the Alzheimer's Society Northland on Monday morning when someone "jimmied" open her bedroom window, clambered into her Maunu home and rifled through the drawers of her bedside table.
"I feel violated and gutted. There is no way to put a value on the things that have been stolen from me. They are irreplaceable."
The burglar swiped a collection of sentimental "treasures" that belonged to Mrs Wilson's daughter, Michelle "Shelley" Wilson, who died 21 years ago after a life-long battle with cystic fibrosis when she was 12-years-old.
"They were her special things. Little mementos of her," the angry mother said.
The most precious of the keepsakes was a bone carving the terminally ill child was given by her nurse on the brink of meeting her idol, television's MacGyver, in 1987 - thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation.
Shelley took "her little piece of New Zealand" with her to Vancouver where she met MacGyver - Richard Dean Anderson - and escaped normal life.
The necklace was closely linked with that "very special time", Mrs Wilson said.
"She absolutely loved that carving. She wore it all the time."
The carving was blessed and Mrs Wilson hoped it would cause bad luck for the person who took it from its bed of cotton wool inside a small box, resting in the drawer.
Shelley's tiny ballet shoe necklace and other "junk" jewellery that "wouldn't be worth anything to anyone else" was also stolen, Mrs Wilson said.
She and her husband Don, 62, and Shelley's two sisters, Bridget, 34, and Nichola, 36, want the "treasures" home.
"If anyone knows anything, please come forward. Shelley was a very loved part of our family. This stuff is irreplaceable."
Mrs Wilson's mother's engagement ring and cameo brooch, a silver engraved bracelet she was given when she was a bridesmaid and her father's silver cigarette tin were also among the items taken.
"It's just awful," she said.
Other small things taken were Mrs Wilson's brownies and lifesaving medals, a wooden box given to her by a highschool pen pal and jewellery she wore as a child.
The only thing that saved the family from losing "the lot" was their household alarm, which police suspect scared off the culprit. The incident in being investigated further.
" Any information about the theft can be passed on to police in confidence at Whangarei Police Station on (09) 430 4500.