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  • Rebecca Howard, 21, used a camera and camcorder to record special moments with her children, Braydon and Emmalen, while their father Army Spc. Donald Howard is deployed, but her equipment was recently stolen out of her pickup. She is asking the burglars to return the memory cards, but so far no items have been returned. Anita Pere

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February 24, 2012

Stillwater military wife says stolen memory cards never returned

By Anita Pere apere@stwnewspress.com

STILLWATER, Okla. — Earlier this month, video equipment that captured special family moments was stolen from a military wife’s pickup.

Rebecca Howard, 21, of Stilwater, was documenting her children’s milestones — crawling, first laughs, tastes of food — for her husband, Donald Howard, while he’s deployed to Afghanistan.

Howard told the NewsPress all she really wanted back were the memory cards that held precious images of her kids, Braydon, 2, and Emmalen, about 7 months.

“They have so much, so many memories that he’s missed out on that he’s not going to get to see now,” she said. “We would record messages where (Braydon) would tell Daddy he loves him and wants him to come home.”

Howard said this week she said the memory cards haven’t been returned. One woman offered to give her a digital camera, but she didn’t accept it.

“I don’t need the camera ... my husband has a camera so when he comes back, we won’t need one,” she said.

Her husband, Donald, 21, is an army specialist with the 179th Infantry Regiment, part of the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. He was deployed when Emmalen was born, and he was allowed two weeks of leave to see his daughter, the family said. He will return to Oklahoma next month.

A video camera, a digital camera, a purse, checkbook, PikePass and sunglasses were stolen from Howard’s Ford F-150 overnight Feb. 6 while it was parked at her duplex. She usually locks the pickup, but that night she thinks she accidentally left it unlocked.

Stillwater police took a report, but she said they have not notified her of any developments in the case.

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