A grieving Whangārei couple is pleading for thieves to return a hard drive of photos of their deceased son and his precious pounamu after their flooded home was ransacked while they were living in emergency housing.
Julia and Jason Tapp, who run the not-for-profit organisation Northland Arts Centre, said they returned to their house about three weeks ago to find almost everything gone. They estimate about $40,000-worth of gear was stolen.
This includes a mitre saw and flatbed sander, which Julia would've used next month to launch Northland's first 'angel casting' service - an art form that creates a 3D, stone replica of a child's hands and feet.
The couple is pleading for help replacing these expensive tools so they can still offer the service to other grieving parents, but have been left most heartbroken by the burglary of a cupboard containing memories of their son Ezra, who passed away in 2014.
Thieves took off with a hard drive with hundreds of photos of Ezra, as well as a precious pounamu given to him by his grandfather. Julia says they also rifled through his ashes bags and took money he'd been gifted.
"The idea that anyone could come in and do that… Our son's memory has been desecrated," she told Newshub.
"It was me holding onto those things to try and preserve his memory. The hardest bit is having that sanctum broken - a place that, in my mind, is tapu (sacred).
"They've done the shame of desecrating his grave, to me."
Police are still investigating the burglary - and while Julia says they've been doing a "great job", they have no real leads.
However she's hopeful the thieves will do the right thing and return at least the pounamu and hard drive to their mailbox.
'No words to say what a loss that was'
The burglary three weeks ago was devastating for the Tapps, but it represents just one moment of adversity over the course of what has been a very difficult six years for the couple.
The adversity began when their three-year-old son passed away in August 2014. Ezra, who had severe autism, ran away from their Waihi home after a gate was inadvertently left open by a guest.
"I thought he was with my husband Jason, and Jason thought he was with me," Julia recounted.
"It was only 10 minutes later when I noticed he wasn't with my husband, and it was panic stations. A little boy can get a long way in 10 minutes."
Her worst fears were realised when Ezra's lifeless body was found in the Ohinemuri River, about an hour after being reported missing. He was pulled out of the water, but tragically couldn't be revived.
"He couldn't talk or toilet himself, but he was so pure and beautiful and innocent. There's no words to say what a loss that was," she said.
The Tapps donated Ezra's heart valves, allowing three children with heart defects to live fuller lives, which Julia says is "just gorgeous".
They also poured themselves into art and music, moving to Whangārei to open the Northland Arts Centre. The couple credits their creative pursuits with healing them after Ezra's death.
The couple host art lessons at the centre, which are community-orientated and geared towards helping those who wouldn't normally be able to participate due to cost, disabilities or special needs.
The Tapps admit they have hardly made a cent since it launched and haven't paid themselves in nearly three years, but recently turned the business into a non-profit organisation to better fulfil their goals.
'A flood of crap': Tapps hit by 'double whammy' of floods, burglary
In the depths of winter, torrential downpours and strong winds closed schools, caused slips and flooding and burst the banks of rivers in Northland.
Unfortunately for the Tapps, it also caused the roof of their septic tank at their Portland home to collapse in on itself, inundating the ground floor of their house with sewage.
"It pushed the contents through our showers, toilets and drains. It was literally a flood of crap," Julia said.
The wild weather also caused septic mains near the Northland Arts Centre to burst, pushing a mix of sewage and water into their studio. Julia says it was the only shop in Whangārei's city centre to be condemned.
On August 12, the sixth anniversary of Ezra's death, things had become so bad that Julia, Jason and their three children were moved into emergency accommodation.
It was seven weeks later, as their home lay empty and they awaited the reconstruction of the house's bottom storey, that thieves targeted it multiple times.
Builders found their belongings gathered up in the hallway, thinking Julia and Jason had been in to prepare to move their belongings. But by the time the family was contacted to pick their stuff up, it was already gone.
When the Tapps returned to the house, they were distraught to find it had been totally ransacked - about $40,000 of possessions had been taken.
"Almost everything was gone," Julia said.
"They stole so much gear, they must've been back about two or three times. It was quite a double whammy losing our home and business, then being robbed."
Among the stolen items were two new tools - a mitre saw and flatbed sander - which Julia was using to launch a free angel casting service for those who'd lost children.
Julia has spent the last four years training to do angel casting in Waikato - but without the tools, cannot introduce the course which Julia said was "meant to be our son's legacy for bereaved parents".
They're eager for generous Kiwis and businesses to donate the tools or help with the financial burden of replacing them if they can, as they're no longer in a position to find the money themselves.
"If anyone can help us replace our tools, please get in contact," Julia said. "Trying to pull $1000 or so out of our bum is not easy."
'It's no good to anyone else, but to us it means everything'
While the missing tools are a tough enough pill to swallow, it's the loss of personal items that remind them of Ezra that have left the couple most devastated.
The thieves had rifled through a memorial cupboard they'd set up for their lost son, looking through his ashes bags and taking money donated by his grandfather, a treasured pounamu and a hard drive of photos.
Julia says it would've been obvious to the thieves what the cupboard was for, and likened their opportunism to desecrating Ezra's grave.
She's now urging them to do the right thing and return the sentimental items to their home.
"Those other possessions are just possessions, but the main thing is our son's pounamu or the hard drive," Julia said.
"The pounamu comes from his grandad - it's a pounamu of my husband's father's. And if you bring back the hard drive, at least I'll know there's no images out there of my son after death.
"It's literally no good to anyone else, but to us it means everything."
