UPDATE:
The missing ornaments have been returned. On Friday evening, Cindy Storness-Bliss got a phone call telling her that they had been dropped off at a Langley Fire Hall.
“We both were beyond excited when we heard this news,” said Bjorn Storness-Bliss.
The Seven Dwarfs spent the night safe and sound with RCMP, and the Storness-Bliss family picked them up on Saturday morning.
“This has been such an emotional roller coaster, this year for us,” said Bjorn. “We are so thankful that our prayers were answered, this change of heart has brought such a peace to us.”
Bjorn Storness-Bliss expressed his thanks to the community for their “instrumental support in helping to change the hearts of those who had taken the Seven Dwarfs.”
The original story, posted Friday afternoon, follows:
Bjorn and Cindy Storness-Bliss have suffered unimaginable loss this past year.
Their son Nicholas died of an accidental overdose in February. In the wake of their loss, they want to hold on to as many memories of their son that they have, Bjorn said.
On Wednesday (June 6), some of those memories were stolen from them.
The Storness-Bliss residence, located on 180th Street near Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary and Zion Lutheran Church, is well-known to Cloverdale residents as the home of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, garden ornaments that have stood in their front garden for years.
The Seven Dwarfs were taken sometime between late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, when they were noticed missing.
A neighbour reported that they saw a black pick-up truck in front of the home at around 11:45 p.m. Wednesday night, and Bjorn found a single set of footprints in the garden the next morning. The Snow White statue, nearly four feet tall, remained, but the Seven Dwarfs were gone.
The figures were a local landmark. Bjorn said that it was not unusual to have people ask if they could take photos with the statues, and he was frequently asked where they got them from. It’s no secret where they came from — they were purchased from the Fraser Valley Cement Gardens in Langley. But the statues are irreplaceable because of the memories that are attached to them.
The Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ornaments were a daily reminder of their son. Nicholas helped load the figures into the family truck, and he helped them set them in the garden.
“To see them gone — we feel so broken,” said Bjorn. “Why would someone do this?”
“Now the garden looks so empty,” he said.
His wife Cindy is “absolutely devastated by it, because of the memories,” he said. “You want to hold on to as many memories as you have.”
The Storness-Bliss family has made a police report, but they are hoping that a public plea for the return of their stolen items may lead to their safe return. All they want, Bjorn said, is to have them back.
If anyone has any information, they are asked to please contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502, or, to remain anonymous, call 1-800-222-8477 or visit solvecrime.ca.
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