LITTLETON, Colo. — A U.S. Marine veteran who recently moved to Colorado is asking for help locating a trailer containing his most valuable possessions — including a Purple Heart — that was stolen out of a Public Storage lot late last month.
Kevin Miller, 32, and his wife moved to Colorado in October after his wife, who works for the U.S. Department of Defense, was stationed at Buckley Air Force Base.
Miller said he and his wife were storing the trailer at the Public Storage at 1801 W. Belleview Ave. in Littleton while they settled documents relating to a home purchase.
"It was pretty much the things that I valued the most that I put in the trailer to alleviate this process of a moving company possibly damaging or losing stuff," Miller said.
Those items included Miller's Marine Corps uniforms, promotions certificates, welding tools, family heirlooms and Miller's Purple Heart award — something Miller said is irreplaceable.
"Everyone has been asking me ... 'Could you call the defense department to get another one?'" Miller said. "I'm sure I can...probably buy another one. It's not gonna be the same. It's not gonna come in a case when you actually receive the award. It's not going to actually come with the warrant for the award that I received from a commanding officer at a ceremony."
Littleton Police Commander Trent Cooper said the department is actively investigating the incident, which Miller reported to them on Dec. 29.
Cooper also said that particular Public Storage facility has more thefts than other storage facilities in the city.
"Generally speaking, most storage facilities, particularly those that are outside, have high rates of burglary and theft," Cooper said.
Miller said the insurance he purchased when he originally also had a unit at the facility won't cover his losses.
"[Management] told me I had to have insurance on them, so I thought the insurance that I had purchased would cover both," Miller said. "Come to find out, it only covers the storage unit, not the lot, and pretty much that was their only answer."
Miller said he hopes the manager at the Public Storage facility will work with him to track down what happened.
"I would feel like it's my obligation, anything in my power to track down, looking at video footage, walk the property, make sure we don't have any holes in the fences or other areas where people can go in and out of there," Miller said.
"It's been a nightmare ... when we finally get settled on a new house and thinking like, 'Let's go unload everything and finally settle in,' just to find out everything has been stolen," Miller said.
9NEWS reached out to Public Storage for comment and is waiting for their reply. Management at the Littleton facility has not responded to our inquiries.
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