Santa Ynez home burglary leads to widespread search for rare jewelry

SANTA YNEZ, Calif. - A Santa Ynez Valley homeowner is on the lookout for drawers of rare family jewelry, stolen recently by a suspect she believes may have been in the area for some time.

"The robber did get four generations of my family heirloom jewelry that goes as far back as the 1800s," said Tinker Andrews.

The broad daylight crime occurred on August 13 between noon and 2 p.m. on Willow Street. No one was home at the time.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff is actively investigating.

The house had security cameras that apparently did not deter the suspect. The internet connection was out at the time, and there are no images available.

Neighbors have also been alerted through NextDoor.

Pawnshops have also been notified throughout the county and also into Ventura and Oxnard.

"I continue to email it every day down to L.A. to Oakland, I have it on social media, passing it to the neighborhood watch pages,  for sale pages, Craig's list, all of the social media accounts that you can think of," said Andrews.

She's hoping someone has seen them for sale. "Because if they recognize one thing that they see it could lead to something else but more importantly it could lead to the arrest of the perpetrator. "  

Since the flyers have gone out, neighbors have responded with crimes they are aware of in their area.

Andrews says, "I believe that he has to live somewhere nearby that if he is hitting enough of us, it seems odd that he would travel far to do this. "

There was a neighbor who saw the male suspect leave in a hurry but did not get the license number of a dark sedan.

Another resident said a man who fit the description was doing door-to-door sales.

"If you are home and surprise him he might say 'oh I'm selling solar' like a neighbor did tell me that happened to their house."

For Andrews, it was still a forced entry crime.

"Make sure everything is working properly check your alarms systems regularly, make sure your doors are locked," said Andrews. She says the suspect who got into her house used a shovel to remove a window from its slider frame.

She says the suspect used a pillowcase to take all the jewelry and run. She called the suspect a "coward."

If you have information reference: Santa Barbara County Sheriff case #21-9493