DRW cancer patient’s home ransacked while away for treatment

A Deschutes River Woods resident got a devastating diagnosis in January.

“When I heard that I have cancer, it was really heartbreaking,” Lawrence Hamilton said Wednesday.

Lawrence and his wife, Donna, traveled to California for cancer treatment — and after three months, he was deemed cancer-free.

The Hamiltons couldn’t wait to get back home.

“We were so happy,” Lawrence recalled. “We even bought a bottle of wine.”

But when they came back home, they found their place completely ransacked.

“I walked through the door there — and first sight of the house was like someone had just stabbed me right through the heart,” Lawrence said.

All the drawers in their home were opened and their items were scattered everywhere.

“The whole floor was just covered,” Lawrence said. “It was shambled. They pulled out everything.”

Many of their valuables are missing.

“Yeah, and my carburetor, which was setting here on the bench,” Lawrence said. “It’s gone. Easy pickings.”

Among the missing items: an extensive coin and comic book collection.

“Your heart just drops,” Donna said.

Some things are simply irreplaceable.

“It was terrible,” Lawrence said. “All the things I had from high school. And my class ring.”

It was the personal items that really struck a nerve with the couple.

Donna said, “That really hit me hard, you know, because those were mementos we hoped to pass on to his son.”

The thieves not only took possessions. They also squatted in the Hamilton’s home, drinking their booze at their kitchen table.

“It’s scary,” Donna said.

The incident shook their sense of security.

“I’m afraid to leave the house now,” Lawrence said.

They’ve looked at pawn shops in hopes of finding some of their things there, but so far they have had no luck.

“I think we’ll probably look forever,” Donna said.