Stolen laptops held years of memories

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - A desperate plea after a thief steals thousands of dollars worth of laptops and hard drives from a woman's car in San Francisco.

It isn't the electronics she cares about but what’s on them, videos of her father who's dying of cancer.

Liz Kain’s father was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer five years ago, so she decided to document their time together.

Now, he has months to live and those videos she said are priceless.

For Kain, her dad is her best friend, her biggest supporter, her everything so when he was diagnosed with stage four cancer, it was devastating.

She then made it her mission to record what she could of their lives together.

“It’s things like him cutting roses in the garden, it's every birthday, every holiday, adventures we took, train trips to visit extended family,” said Kain.

From simple meals to Facetime conversations to life advice, Kain captured it all. It’s memories she holds dear to her heart.

“It’s extraordinarily difficult since he won't meet my future children if I have a family I hope. He speaks in doses of philosophy,” said Kain.

Back on the morning of June 6, Kain was in the process of moving when she discovered her Volkswagen Hatchback, parked on the 200 block of Olive Street had been broken into. Her window was smashed.

She thought she didn't have anything in her car until she realized she had a bag full of clothes in the trunk of her car.

Underneath those clothes, six laptops and five external hard drives with her dad's videos of extraordinary value.

“The monetary value of these laptops and hard drives it's nothing in comparison to our lives together,” said Kain.

Surveillance video shows a man walking on the street at the time at the theft. He's seen around Kain’s car and while you don't see the actual break-in, he leaves in a hurry with several bags.

A neighbor who asked not to be identified believes he's seen the man before. “Definitely came across as a professional,” said Kain’s neighbor. “I was not alarmed at all. It was 1:30 in the morning and he was breaking into another car.”

Kain hired a private investigator, put up fliers in the neighborhood and gave the serial numbers of the computers to police.

She's hoping if anyone has any information or was sold the items to return them. No questions asked.

“I don't need justice for this person,” said Kain. “I would rather reward them just to let me know what they did with it. If there's any remote hope, if they are lying in a back counter somewhere, it means the world to all of us.”

Kain believes the thief lives in the area and she's asking if anyone knows anything to contact the San Francisco Police Northern Station.