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JOE BLACKDetectives say more than 90 thefts and burglaries dating to April 2002 are the work of three people who lived among some of the stolen goods.
SPRING HILL - Linda Bowen has never met Jacqueline Forcier.
She couldn't pick her out of a crowd if she had to. But, there, hanging on a wall in Forcier's home on Treehaven Drive were paintings that belonged to Bowen and her family.
In a pile on the floor were some linens Bowen said she once used when she had company.
Bowen, 63, couldn't help but cry last week as she walked through a stranger's house pointing out her family's portraits, parts of her prized porcelain doll collection and pieces of furniture she had saved up for years to buy that were now "junk." Two weeks earlier, at a storage locker, Bowen and her husband had seen some of their larger pieces of furniture.
Bowen now wonders what strangers would be thinking when they looked at another family's pictures hanging on the wall.
"I just don't understand. I can't come up with any ideas," she said. "What would you think?"
Bowen and her husband's belongings, enough to fill a three-bedroom house, were stolen as part of what law enforcement officials said were more than 90 thefts and burglaries carried out by three people dating to April 2002.
One suspect, Kimberly Brodasky, 33, of Spring Hill, was arrested May 24 in connection with the burglaries. She was also charged with one count of arson in a fire at a Hernando Beach house after deputies say she stole a 2003 Chrysler Sebring from the Gulf Winds Circle residence.
Deputies said Brodasky has helped them figure out which locations were broken into.
Investigators are still searching for Jacqueline Forcier, 39, of Spring Hill, who they said was the "mastermind" behind the thefts. Based on information from family members, investigators believe Forcier may be in St. Petersburg.
Deputies also arrested Jacqueline's brother, Richard Forcier, 41, of Hudson. Reports state that he helped with the theft of the Bowens' belongings in April 2002 and with two other burglaries.
Investigators said Richard Forcier worked for the moving company the Bowens used while their house was being built. Sheriff Richard Nugent said the Hudson resident obtained a key to the Bowens' storage room and together, with his sister, cleared it out. He was released on $20,000 bail on June 4.
More than $150,000 in furniture, appliances, ornaments, tools, and personal items were stolen from homes, construction sites and businesses during the two years. Brodasky has told investigators there may be more, and that the money from selling the stolen goods was used to support her and Jacqueline Forcier's methamphetamine habits, Nugent said.
About $50,000 of the stolen property has been recovered. The rest may have been sold to people on the streets or pawned, Nugent said.
People who believe their property was stolen can visit Paul & Jerry's Self Storage, 10161 County Line Road, and claim it from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Officials said people must prove that the property is theirs.
Linda Bowen and her husband, Bill, had waited for a break in their case since they discovered nearly everything they owned was stolen in April 2002 from the storage locker where a moving company had placed it. The couple were having a "dream house" built in the country with more space, so they were renting until construction was completed.
"We had everything, and I mean everything, in there," Linda Bowen said. "When we were moving out of our other place, if we had something nice, we said: "Put in storage, it'll be safe there.'
"I wish we had been right."
The Bowens are filling their new home with second-hand furniture. They lack many of their furnishings, such as a grandfather clock, framed photos and porcelain dolls that normally would have decorated the house.
"What we've got back looks like it went to war," she said.
Nugent said Brodasky and Jacqueline Forcier first met in jail and remained close after they were released. Jacqueline Forcier was convicted of drug possession in April 2003 and of burglary in June 2003. Brodasky was convicted of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol in May 2002 and pleaded no contest to driving with a suspended license in May 2002, records show. The two women broke into houses and construction sites to scavenge many of the items they later attempted to pawn or sell, Nugent said. Together they took tractor mowers, lawn ornaments, washing machines, laptops, jewelry, dishwashers, televisions, vacuum cleaners and many other items, Nugent said.
"Pretty much, they took everything that wasn't bolted down," he said.
The storage room where the stolen items are being housed is filled with old computers and televisions. A stack of Usher and R. Kelly CDs were near a box of movies such as Toy Story and Disney classics. Ceiling fans that looked ready for installation were placed on the floor beside old laptops.
Deputies said they began their investigation after the two women attempted to pawn a power washer that was reported stolen from a Publix supermarket.
When the serial numbers bounced back as stolen, deputies began questioning Forcier and Brodasky on May 24.
Forcier was released on her own recognizance. On May 25 she allowed deputies to search her home, where much of the suspected stolen property was decorating the home and was piled up in the living room. Deputies said that after the search, she fled.
Initially, when they visited her, Forcier told deputies that many of the items were priceless heirlooms from her family. She mentioned that some items - ones labeled Bowen - came from her grandfather, detectives said.
Detective Rob Santoro said Forcier later told officials that she committed several of the thefts.
A large green lawn mower at the Treehaven Drive home was traced to Linda and Bill Bowen, deputies said. The Bowens reported the machine stolen after Bill Bowen went to their storage locker for a routine visit and discovered that the mower and their other belongings were gone.
After months of thinking they would never see their possessions again, the Bowens were able to recover some of what had been put in storage about two years before.
"We'd saved for 40 years to get some stuff that was decent; then people took it all," she said. "What's left is, for lack of a better word, "junk.'
"It's unbelievable that this could happen."
- Times researcher Catherine Wos contributed to this report.
- Joe Black can be reached at (352) 754-6117.
HOW TO CLAIM STOLEN PROPERTYPeople who believe their property was stolen can visit Paul & Jerry's Self Storage, 10161 County Line Road, and claim it from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Officials said people must prove that the property is theirs.