Peyton Ratledge was seemingly a perfect little baby but one night, for a reason unknown even to the medical examiner, she died in her crib.
She was only 24 days old.
Peyton’s mother, father and brothers were so upset by Peyton’s death in July, that they moved in with family members down the road in Houston, Del. -- it was just too hard to be at home.
But one night while they were gone, someone broke in through the back door and stole the 600-pound family safe.
The safe contained 14 hunting rifles and some special keepsakes of baby Peyton.
“Her first outfit was in there, her last outfit, her hospital band, there was her pacifiers,” said Peyton’s mother Jessica Ehlers. “There was the funeral book… where everyone signed -- they put her footprint in there, they did her fingerprint, they put a lock of her hair in there,”
It looks like the burglars possibly knew the Kent County family and that the family wasn’t staying at home.
State police hope the burglars see how the family is hurting and how they’d really like Peyton’s things returned.
Delaware State Police asked that someone with knowledge of Peyton’s keepsakes returns the items to the State Police’s Camden station.
And even thought the family wants to know who stole their safe, they are more concerned with getting back Peyton’s things. The things in the safe and a headstone are the only things the family has to remember their baby girl.
“I just want ‘em to put it in a bag and throw it in my yard, Ehlers said. “I won’t ask questions -- I just want what I can’t get back.”
