An elderly woman reached out to 11 Investigates after some of her valuables went missing from a storage shed she had rented for years.
Chief Investigator Rick Earle spoke with the woman, police and the owner of the storage facility.
The woman had a collection of miniature horses that her father had given to her over the years, but they’d been stolen from her storage facility.
She couldn’t put a price tag on the collection, but said it was extremely valuable to her because they were gifts from her father, inspired by her love for horses.
It was a collection of more than 100 mini wooden, bronze and plastic horses.
82-year-old Georgia Anderson, who lives in Carrick, didn’t have room in her house for the collection, so she put it in safekeeping — or so she thought — at a storage facility on Brownsville Road near Carrick High School.
But when she recently went to check on it, she discovered it was gone, along with the rest of her stuff, which included a picture of her mom and dad.
Earle: “This is where you thought your horse collection would be, but when you open it up, what was your reaction when you opened it up?”
Anderson: “I was shocked.”
Anderson told Earle she couldn’t believe what she saw, or what she didn’t see. Her storage shed was filled with someone else’s belongings.
Earle: “What are you missing?”
Anderson: “My horse collection.”
Earle: “Is it valuable?”
Anderson: “To me it is, because my dad gave it to me.”
Earle: “This is near and dear to you? It’s very sentimental?”
Anderson: “Yes.”
Earle: “And you can’t find it? It’s gone right, and you had it in the storage shed for how long?”
Anderson: “Since 2009.”
Anderson said she had paid $50 a month for the shed since 2009.
In 2019, a new owner, Pancham Tamang, bought the facility.
Earle spoke with Tamang.
Tamang: “Somebody broke everything.”
Earle: “Every shed? ”
Tamang: “Yes.”
Earle: “Every door was broken in?”
Tamang: “Yes.”
Tamang said someone broke into every storage shed and ransacked them.
Earle: “Did they have stuff stolen?”
Tamang: “Not stolen, like throwing outside, everything messed up, you know.”
Earle: “Did you see the horse collection?”
Tamang: “I didn’t see, maybe somebody took it. I don’t know.”
Tamang said he was dealing with a sick wife at the same time and wasn’t able to notify Anderson and the other renters about the break-in.
When Anderson discovered someone else’s property in her shed in May, she immediately contacted police and filed a report.
Police went to nearby businesses to look for surveillance video, but couldn’t find any.
They also checked the local pawn shops, but never located the horse collection.
“Anderson, who said she last saw the collection in the storage shed last October, suspected there might have been a mix-up, and her belongings were in another shed two doors down.
While we were at the storage facility, Tamang agreed to open that shed.
He even climbed through it looking for Anderson’s collection.
Earle: “No miniature horses back there?”
Tamang: “No.”
Tamang said he feels so bad that he’s offered to reimburse Anderson for her loss.
Tamang: “I’ll do it because I feel guilty.”
Earle: “You feel bad about it?”
Tamang: “Yes. She’s like my mom. I can pay her back.”
Pittsburgh police, meanwhile, said there is an open investigation into the missing horse collection.
They are asking anyone with any information about the collection to contact them.
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