'˜Thieves stole our memories of Nikki'

Angie Satchell, 66, of High Street, Edlesborough, lost brave Nikki Satchell to breast cancer in June 2015.

Nikki, from Dunstable, was originally diagnosed aged 32, losing her third battle to the disease after raising in excess of £5,000 for Luton and Dunstable Hospital’s chemotherapy unit.

But on Saturday, September 17 Angie was devastated to discover that a silver photo frame containing a picture of her daughter, as well as Nikki’s mauve and floral jewellery box, had been taken from their family home during a burglary.

Angie and her husband, now guardians of Nikki’s two daughters, had been at Luton and Dunstable Hospital on the day in question visiting Nikki’s youngest, aged 10, who was recovering from a hip operation.

Angie said: “I lost my daughter Nikki last year when she was just 38 and she had bequeathed the jewellery box to her two daughters – our grandchildren.

“We are also watching my other daughter Michelle, who is fundraising for Keech Hospice, seek treatment for breast cancer, the same disease that Nikki fought. We just want the jewellery box and photo frame back - they had strong sentimental value.”

On September 17 Angie was already at Luton and Dunstable Hospital, when her husband and other grandaughter, aged 14, left the house at 8am to join them. The family returned from their visit at around 11.30pm.

Angie said: “We saw the front room window lock had been broken and the photo frame gone from its windowsill, before we checked upstairs, seeing the jewellery box had been taken from underneath my bed.”

The floral box design had magnetic clips to close and had been filled with jewelley - watches, necklaces, earrings and bracelets. A prominent item it contained was a very heavy ‘collar’ necklace, with pieces of silver all joined close together.

The silver photo frame was 12x12 size with engraving and contained a photo of Nikki wearing a black and white dress at Ascott, standing with a friend.

Angie said: “I also had my Pandora bracelet taken, but I don’t care much about that - we want the memories back.”

Thames Valley Police said: “We are investigating a burglary which took place between around 4pm and 11pm on September 17.

“Offender(s) entered Angie’s house in Edlesborough and stole a number of items.

“If anyone has any information about this incident or saw / heard anything out of the ordinary around the time of the offence, please contact police via the 101 number.”