Soldier's Home Burglarized Before Christmas

HOUSTON - A wounded soldier comes home from Iraq to Houston, just in time for Christmas. It's not the homecoming he expected! His family left their apartment in Northeast Houston for only one hour and thieves took or destroyed everything they own.

Johnnie and Anna Marie and their five children say they should feel safe at their home, but they don't anymore. They're living with another family member right now, because their house is completly ransacked.

The Jayroe's have no idea how all of this could've happened in such a short time. One of their children says he just doesn't understand, why someone destroyed their home?

His mother reassures him that "some people just don't have respect for one another."

Johnnie is a classified wounded warrior. The robbers took his "dress blues", or official military uniform, but left behind his special medals (except the ones that were already pinned to his uniform.) The uniform costs about $800!

The robbers took almost everything, but "They left us a lot of hamburger meat and two packs of rahman noodles. Oh, and they left us two packs of hot dogs," says Anna Marie. The turkey for Christmas dinner - gone! Everything else from their fridge, freezer, and pantry-- gone!

The grinch took off with 400-dollars worth of toys and Christmas gifts that were carefully wrapped, under their tree."Taking Christmas gifts from kids - that's rude", says one of the five children.

Jewelry, laptop computers, computer software for their homeschooling, TV's, cell phones - all gone.

The robbers threw everything from out of their closets into the bedrooms. They went through boxes that the family still hadn't unpacked. They even took diapers. Someone marked all over their walls with permanent marker and ripped up all of their furniture.

"They tore up his mattress. I don't know who would hide money in a two year old's mattress - but apparently they thought we did", says Anna Marie.

"They robbed me. Okay, I can deal with that. Yea, I'm going to be upset. It's the fact of the matter that they trashed my house. Tore up stuff they're not even taking, just tore it up. We still have to live with it, says Johnnie.

Luckily an incredible attitude is getting the family through this difficult time. The Jayroe's say not even a mess like this can sour their spirits. They realize now, more than ever, that Christmas is more about family than "stuff."

The family is still concerned that renter's insurance can never replace their Christmas gifts in time for the big holiday.

Luckily, one person has been arrested in this case.

You can click on the video tab to watch Fox 26's Melissa Wilson's story about this.