Louise Storey enjoying her holiday
in Esperance before the theft.
“POLICE BELIEVE THAT IT WAS
A DRUG-RELATED CRIME.”
vehicle. “They just came in the door like a silent
ninja. We didn’t wake up or hear a thing,” Louise
said.
When we spoke to Louise in mid August, she said
she “was and still is” very shaken. “I can’t sleep
as I’m convinced they are coming back for the car.
They have a key now. Even if they were watching
and came in while my husband was at the toilet,
I did not leave the van all night so I know I was in
there.”
Even their wedding rings were stolen.
“I have shed many tears and felt sick to my
stomach about leaving Esperance without my
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belongings. We have been wearing our wedding
rings for almost 20 years. I feel naked without
them,” Louise said.
Their caravan insurance, however, covered only
$1000 worth of the property – with a $250 excess.
“It’s not enough to even cover the cash that was in
my purse,” Louise said. “I want anyone planning
the trip of a lifetime to check what’s covered
before you leave. We upgraded our roadside
assist to the highest cover in case the car broke
down. If they had’ve stolen the van, it would have
been replaced. But we didn’t check our contents
policy. I thought my jewellery was covered on our
home policy. It’s not. It will be a long time before
we can afford to replace what we’ve lost.
“We never usually carry cash but we didn’t
know what the facilities were like in WA or on
the Nullarbor, so we brought plenty with us. We
hadn’t spent it yet as we found we could use our