Photos
The ring has little monetary value, but Hastie said that when she recognized its photo during an open house of stolen property Friday on Mottman Road, tears welled up in her eyes. She said she reported the ring stolen after a burglary of her Tumwater home in May 2010. “To lose mementos like that, it’s very awful,” she said. “I’ve got to tell you, when I saw it on the photo book, I started crying,” she said. “I’m just so happy.”
Hastie said about $35,000 in stolen jewelry and other household items are still missing despite viewing the thousands of stolen items on display at the open house.
The stolen items were recovered in June from a single home on Rich Road, and they are on display at the warehouse on Mottman. Detectives said that a number of burglars fenced stolen items at the Rich Road home as far back as 2006 and exchanged the items for drugs or money.
Thurston County and Lacey detectives organized the open house to try to reunite burglary victims with their stolen items and to bolster the criminal case against the individuals who lived at the Rich Road home. Hastie said she learned about the open house by reading about it in The Olympian earlier this week, and she figured she’d at least try to find out if any of the items stolen during the burglary last year were there.
Hastie said she still has fond memories of winning the Miss Washington pageant in 1988, when she was attending the American Conservatory of Music in Seattle. She added that she also will never forget competing in the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City that year, and the Miss America Crown Ring she purchased after the competition has tremendous sentimental value.
She now lives in Tumwater and is active in local church and school groups. She has two sons, one of whom plays football at Tumwater High School.
She grew up in Poulsbo.
Thurston County Sheriff’s Lt. Greg Elwin said the ring can’t be returned to Hastie until after the criminal case against the suspects from the Rich Road residence is complete. Until then, it is considered evidence, he added.
Detectives with the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office and the Lacey Police Department will continue the open house today from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the warehouse at 3400 Mottman Road. People who wish to attend must have a police report from a burglary or a case number given to them by police, Thurston County Sheriff’s Sgt. Cheryl Stines said.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5465 jpawloski@theolympian.com
