Family has free furniture giveaway; thieves steal personal items days later

A family said complete strangers broke into their house and even stole appliances bolted to the wall.

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Channel 2's Matt Johnson spoke to them on Thursday night but have blurred their faces in the video because police refuse to file charges.

Police said a Facebook post may have given the group an excuse to come inside the home.
"We got completely wiped out," said Laura King.

King said she and her husband came home Sunday to a ransacked home and a back door someone had left open.

"The deadbolt was missing from the door," she said.

They found appliances that had been ripped from the walls, cigarettes and beer bottles left behind, and more things taken.

"All of my winter clothes, my suits and my brother-in-law's ashes," King's husband said.

Nothing made sense until they remembered King's Facebook post last Wednesday.

She posted an "indoor yard sale" that listed the items people could pick up for free at their east Atlanta home.

The couple was preparing to move and they had things they weren't taking with them.

"It's housewares, clothing a couple of random items. I never mentioned appliances," King said.

Three days later, their doorbell camera captured footage of two women at the front door. Two other men are seen in the video along with a truck backed into the driveway.

We've blurred their faces because they haven't been charged with a crime.

"I don't think a yard sale is an invitation to break down a back door," King said.

A police report showed Atlanta police investigated the case as a burglary with forced entry. They said they're not pursuing any criminal charges in part because of the Facebook post.

The couple said they're without what's theirs and they're without justice.

"This is very criminal and very wrong," King said.

Because of the video, the victims were able to identify the people in it on their own.

They gave that information to police and a police spokesperson said they're working to arrange a plan for the items to be returned.

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