An Orange County woman could only watch helplessly on her home security camera system as a burglary unfolded Thursday night inside her home.
Tamara Schlachter was out with her daughter eating dinner when the crime happened. She recalled watching as the burglars ransacked her house in Yorba Linda.
"Just a scary experience to watch that live, what was going on but yet so thankful that no one was home," Tamara said.
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She is still haunted by the surveillance video from her family home in Yorba Linda.
Schlacter received a notification from her security system saying an unfamiliar face was inside their home.
"So I just quickly looked at my phone and I could actually see a man walking through my bonus room," Schlachter said.
Not just one man, but two.
Schlachter and her daughter immediately called 911 explaining to the dispatcher what was happening.
Schlachter says the intruders broke in through the back sliding glass door, shattering it to pieces.
"We are not clear why the alarm originally did not go off," Schlachter said. "Somehow they got upstairs without the sensors going off, but we are not quite sure why. But when we look at the footage they were up there for 14 minutes."
During that time, the burglars ransacked the home, dumping out drawers and throwing everything on the floor.
Despite a quick response by Orange County Sheriff's Deputies, Schlachter says the men stole cash and about $20,000 to $30,000 worth of jewelry before getting away. Schlachter says some of the stolen jewelry can't be replaced.
"My dad gave me a pearl necklace when I was born," Schlachter said.
A beautiful necklace from a proud father to his baby daughter.
"Then on my 50th birthday my dad got me a black pearl and he wrote a beautiful saying about the significance of that black pearl so I knew I was going to have to grapple with that feeling of losing that as well," Schlachter said.
But she says a miracle happened.
"About 4:30 in the morning everyone was gone and I just went into my room. It was in disarray, and I just prayed 'Lord just give me like one nugget of hope, just something here.' And, through the midst of all the stuff I found my black pearl necklace that my dad gave me," Schlachter said.
Schlachter doesn't want anyone else to experience the fear and heartache that her family has gone through. She's hoping someone will identify the burglars and call the sheriff's investigators.
"I want this story to go out to make sure that other families are safe and can protect themselves," Schlachter said.
Schlachter believes at least one other home was also targeted in her neighborhood but NBC4 is still trying to confirm that with investigators.
