There is no feeling worse than someone breaking into your home, but even worse- they do it while you're home and sleeping. That's exactly what happened to my family over the weekend.

Around 3 am on Sunday, October 20th, someone (or multiple someones) opened an unlocked window on the front of our house facing the street, crawled into our home, and stole over $1200 worth of electronics, then helped themselves to my car key that was hung by the door, and stole my car on their way out.

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My door was locked. I have a big dog, and I was home. And still- they walked away with a majority of my superficial valuables in minutes, as silent as a mouse. As soon as I woke up and saw my front door left wide open, and my car missing... my world flipped upside down.

We spent the rest of the day trying to piece together what happened, trying to find ditched belongings that they threw from our vehicle around the neighborhood. While our neighbors tried to help us, we eventually gave up once we realized it was all gone for good- even the car.

Laura Hardy / Canva
Laura Hardy / Canva
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However, we have some great leads thanks to other's camera footage and willingness to help. We will be okay- but others this happens to may not be as lucky. We're a young family with a good support system, many others may be unable to say the same.

But as we talked to our neighbors and others in West Michigan, we realized that these intruders have been doing this for several months to others, and that's why they were able to move so quickly, and silently, while we were in our own home. This was not the first time they had done this, and it sadly might not be the last.

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Canva
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And while many speculated that it could be someone we knew, or that we slept too hard- I can't express this enough: They broke in while we were sleeping, we didn't even know they were there... the dog didn't even bark! (and she barks at doors closing three houses down.) that's why this is so scary- they moved silently so close to us, in our own home.

While we've filed the police report, and the stuff is all replaceable, and we found our escaped pets- But, nothing makes me feel safe after someone invaded us in such a personal and vulnerable way. So, I just want to warn others, even in your sleepy quiet neighborhood, these people can find a sneaky way to take your things. It's important now more than ever that you make sure you secure every point of entry into your home (even the insignificant, public street facing ones- they're brazen.)

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Michigan has a lot of different laws - and some things that many THINK are illegal/legal that are actually the opposite. Let's take a look and provide answers to 50+ commonly asked questions about Michigan laws.

Gallery Credit: Wendy Reed