Chrystal Fowler-Griffith was still grappling with her father’s recent death when she found his storage trailer and several of his possessions missing.
Her father, Ron Fowler Jr., died in his sleep on Dec. 1, after a fire broke out in the Boscawen home where he rented. Three months later, Fowler-Griffith’s grief over his loss has become even more painful.
“The only thing we have of my dad’s was stolen,” she said. “It takes a really cold-hearted person to steal from a dead man knowing that he has a family that probably wants his things.”
Last Tuesday, Fowler-Griffith got a call from her brother, Ron Fowler III, during a routine check of the Gage St. property where their father had lived.
His Nissan Sentra and Chevy Trailblazer were still parked in the driveway. But where once both cars were “floor to ceiling packed with stuff,” Fowler-Griffith recalled, now everything was gone.
The 15-foot trailer Fowler used to store many of his belongings had also vanished from the property, Fowler-Griffith said. The situation left Fowler’s children heartbroken and confused.
“I just don’t understand how anyone can do that,” she said. “It just makes no sense to me. Anyone with any form of heart wouldn’t do that.”
The family contacted the Boscawen Police Department last Wednesday. Power tools belonging to Fowler’s son, Ron Fowler III, were also stolen from the vehicles, and the department has a warrant pending in their search for those tools, according to Chief Jason Killary.
Fowler’s case is more delicate that it seems on surface: He did not have a will, which means that even if his belongings are recovered, his case could still wind up in court. In cases like these, Killary said, delegating personal belongings to family members in can become an “absolute disaster.”
The recent death of Gary Bailey, who owned the Boscawen property, further complicates the case.
Killary said Bailey’s property functioned as a “boarding house” that people came in and out of frequently, and in the aftermath of the fire, many individuals have attempted to claim belongings left behind on the site as theirs.
“I think it’s a good case study as to why you need to make sure you have your ducks in a row as far as post-life paperwork, because this is going to continue down this path until there is an estate established by someone,” he said.
Fowler-Griffith posted on her Facebook page as well as several community groups about the incident, urging those who witnessed anything to contact her or the police.
“A lot of people knew my dad and they know me and my brother. They already feel bad enough that we lost our dad, and now we have nothing to remind us of him,” she said. “It just seems like a kick in the face after a kick in the face.”
Fowler-Griffith said their search has less to do with the stolen items themselves than the “humanity of it all.” Besides her brother’s tools, she does not recall any of the items in the cars of trailer in particular.
“It’s just not fair to kick us as a family when we’re already down,” she said.