New Lenox Mom Wants Answers, Belongings Back After Home Break-In

NEW LENOX, IL — New Lenox woman Denise Singh knows kids can make bad decisions. She was young once, and she gets it.

But with thousands of dollars in cash and belongings taken from her New Lenox home near Elm Drive and Maple Lane, she also hopes to catch the culprits in what she believes was a targeted break-in Thursday night.

Singh, who has two children—a son and a daughter—who attend Lincoln-Way West, said it appears the thieves knew exactly what to look for—and where—in her home, leading her to believe it might have been acquaintances or classmates of her children.

"They didn’t ransack the house," Singh told Patch. "They knew specifically what they were going for."

Singh turned to social media for help from her community, sharing a post with photos and details of items stolen.

"If anyone’s son comes home with a bunch of cash, mostly hundred dollar bills over $3,000 and these retro Jordan shoes, this $600 JBL boombox 3 and two suitcases one pink and one purple full of items from inside my home, that you don’t recognize, please contact me," Singh wrote.

She's reluctant to file a police report, she says, because if they are caught and she is correct that they are teens who know her children, she doesn't want their permanent records impacted.

"If I get my stuff back, I don’t want to ruin a kid’s life," Singh said. "Even as an adult, we make stupid mistakes. Kids make stupid mistakes."

In addition to the shoes, cash and boombox, also taken were two suitcases—one pink and one purple—full of items from inside her home. The family had returned from a vacation recently; the suitcases might still have their airport tags.

The thieves gained access through a second-floor window, and appear to have specifically targeted her son's bedroom, she said.

"They completely cleaned out my son’s bedroom," she said.

An envelope of cash stashed for her kids' use was also taken from a drawer in her bedroom—no other drawers appeared touched or disturbed, she said. It's almost as if whoever was responsible had been there before, and knew where to look.

"To know that there’s money in the envelope in a specific drawer, they didn’t even touch the other drawers," she said. "I don’t have a safe—I’ve never felt like I needed one."

It appears they never left the upstairs, she said.

A neighbor's Ring doorbell footage captured one of the thieves in the family's backyard, and also a black SUV seen parked nearby, to which that person fled. Details are difficult to make out, she said, but they appeared to be wearing black pants and a black hoodie, and the SUV was also black or dark-colored. The family had left the home at 8:23 p.m.; time on the footage shows 8:28 p.m.

She's hoping parents might have noticed their child coming home with something that looks unfamiliar. She's counting on someone to see something, and say something.

"I just find it hard to believe that it’s somebody not in this community," she said. "I know as a parent, if my kid broke into a house and stole stuff, and you came to me ... I’m going to ransack their room, find the stuff and return it, because it’s just wrong."

With constant access to social media, she fears her sons might have shared too much about their possessions, leading to the theft. She's hopeful someone will come forward.

"I don’t want to ruin a kid’s life," she said. "I really, really don’t want to ruin a kid’s life.

"Everything can be replaced, nobody got hurt."

Still, she'd like her family's things back.

"Kids talk to each other—somebody is going to say something."

Singh encourages anyone with information to reach out to her at denisesingh22@yahoo.com.