Mokena Woman Has 'Rush Of Thankfulness' After Cops Find Stolen items

MOKENA, IL — Like countless other burglary victims, Kristin Ellis was convinced she would never recover the property that was taken from her home in unincorporated Mokena during a break-in four years ago.

But just two weeks ago and one day before her 39th birthday, Ellis sat in her vehicle in tears as she grasped two pieces of jewelry that hold a special place in her heart that had been stolen and then, almost unbelievably, were recovered by the Will County Sheriff’s Office only a few days after the burglary.

For more than three years, though, the items have been locked up in an evidence vault as the Will County State’s Attorney pursued charges against the woman accused of the burglary, which happened at Ellis’ home while she was working.

Patch previously reported that Ellis' former sister-in-law, 40-year-old Karen Ellis of Crest Hill, and 38-year-old Dustin Kochenburg of Joliet, were being sought by police in connection with the burglary.

But after investigators found the suspect and then secured a guilty plea from the woman, Ellis recently got the email she had been waiting for: Her belongings, including a necklace made by her mother for her wedding day and a gold necklace handed down to her by her grandmother, would be returned to their rightful owner.

“I still don’t know how (the police) did it,” Ellis told Patch about her items, which were found at a Chicago pawn shop shortly after being stolen. “Those things are the only things that mattered to me.”

She added: “I was in a panic I was never going to get this stuff back. …it was heartbreaking to me thinking I was never going to see them again.”

According to court records, Karen Ellis and Kochenberg pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the break-in and were sentenced. Ellis received two years in prison for the burglary after she pleaded guilty to stealing jewelry and cash from the Mokena-area home in the 2019 incident.

In addition to the two pieces of jewelry, Karen Ellis — whom Kristin Ellis identified as her former sister-in-law — took a large jar of tip money that Ellis had earned while working as a bartender, Ellis said. The cash was stolen, according to police, along with every piece of jewelry Ellis said she had ever owned. But it was the handmade necklace made by Ellis’ mother, Judy — along with a precious necklace handed down to her by her grandmother — that held the most sentimental value.

Ellis, who had recently gone through a divorce before the break-in took place, had her wedding ring inside a jewelry box that had been rifled through and then emptied by the suspect. But Ellis said her heart immediately dropped when she discovered the pendant made by her mother — which included her parents’ wedding rings melded together — was gone, along with a gold necklace that featured a small globe and that her grandmother had given her after telling her, “I’m giving this to you because you mean the world to me.”

Dan Jungles, who leads the criminal investigations unit for the Will County Sheriff's Office, told Patch that although Ellis' case has a happy ending, many do not. In this case, Ellis said the family had an idea of who the suspects were.

Detectives can check local pawn shops for the suspects by name and were quickly able to identify the pawned items, he said. In this case, Jungles said that Ellis discovered the theft in a timely manner and detectives were able to track down the stolen jewelry before the items were melted down or sold.

"I was glad to hear that Mrs. Ellis got back those cherished jewelry items that have been passed down to her from her family," Jungles told Patch.

Ellis still gets emotional talking about the items, which carry the memories of her late father, who took his own life in 2002, and her grandmother, whom Ellis cared for in Crestwood before she died. But years after the break-in, Ellis can’t figure out how to thank Will County Sheriff’s deputies and investigators who tracked her stolen items to that pawn shop in Chicago where the items were taken after being stolen.

But within days of the break-in, detectives showed Ellis a video of the items they had found and asked if they were hers. To her disbelief, they were, and had been found by Will County CSI detectives. The stolen items were then placed into evidence holding while the investigation continued.

Because of the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic and the fact the suspect fled the state, Ellis said, her belongings remained in police custody for nearly four years before finally being released to her by the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office last month, after the woman pleaded guilty to criminal charges.

With her family heirlooms back in her possession, Ellis sat in her car for more than an hour as the memories of her grandmother and father came rushing back. Even two weeks later, Ellis has trouble putting her emotions into words.

“Obviously, I knew (the items) were there, but I was so anxious to get it back,” Ellis told Patch last week. “But finally, to actually have them, I can’t even explain the emotions I had to have them back in my hands. I had seen pictures of it, but (the emotion) is just the rush of thankfulness I felt for (the police) had actually found them for me.”

The timing couldn’t have been better. With her 40th birthday only a year away, Ellis said the milestone had her feeling down and out before she received word that the items she had been waiting years to get back were finally being given back to her by investigators.

Ellis says that she finds herself just holding onto the items and looking at them now that they are back in her possession. She hopes to pass the items down to her nieces in the years to come but has locked them in a safe in the meantime. Should she re-marry, she hopes to wear the pendant made by her mother on her wedding day after not wearing it since the last time she got married. But as the reality of having items she feared she would see again back in her possession, she again has a concrete way of remembering those that mean the most to her.

“It’s just a special, special thing,” Ellis said.