ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) - In a galaxy not so far away, a holiday display of Star Wars inflatables at an Escondido home, paid mostly by allowance money, disappeared in the night.
Off Orleans Avenue, inside a section of Desanie Reyes' yard dubbed the ‘Galaxy’ and ‘Star Wars portal’ is suddenly a lot of empty space.
“I see kids smiling. I love it when families drive by … then this happened. I was so devastated, about to cry. Who could do this to us?” said Reyes.
The display of inflatables has been the pride and joy of the Reyes family for years.
A few months ago, four of her seven children—all four of her boys—decided to pitch in their allowance money.
“They do chores, so we give them an allowance every week,” said Reyes.
The boys helped buy more than $500 worth of Star Wars inflatables, from Darth Vader to a Mandalorian.
10-year-old Ricky saved for a month to pitch in $30.
“I thought it would be cool,” said Ricky.
The cool sight went up a week ago. Days later, on Sunday morning, there was a wrenching discovery.
“Two of our kids were crying, sitting and pouting,” said Reyes.
Six of the Star Wars inflatables had vanished.
Also gone: a Santa inflatable, and two pieces in a set of reindeer, spanning three generations.
“That was irreplaceable, given to me by my grandma … Heartbroken,” said Reyes.
Heartbroken, but not broken, says Reyes. A police report has been filed.
They family has already replaced the Santa inflatable and vows to work on filling up the portal again.
“We’re going to have our Christmas joy,” said Reyes.
That joy, though, is mixed with disbelief.
“We’re out there typing to spread the joy, and someone comes and steals from us,” said Reyes.
The total loss from the theft is more than $1,000.
Anyone with information is asked to call Escondido Police at 760-839-4722.
A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help the family replace the stolen inflatables.
