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REGINA – A local singer-songwriter hopes social media will aid him in finding his stolen laptop filled with precious files.

“It’s probably like having a child taken because you can’t replace it, like, it’s just gone,” said Jeffery Straker. “I physically got sick.”

Straker returned home from dinner on Friday night to find his home had been burglarized – his TV, digital piano, and other valuables had been taken.

The missing laptop was the toughest part to accept because it contained hundreds of songs, lyrics, music videos and family photos.

“I quickly noticed this line where someone had kicked the front door in, and it’s so bold to have come in the front door, right?” said Straker, showing the apparent journey of the burglar(s).

He posted about the theft on Facebook, and Twitter, quickly amassing hundreds of retweets on the latter.

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“Jan Arden has even shared it,” said Straker, who is offering a $1,000 reward for the laptop’s return.

Straker isn’t the only Reginan to go online for help finding missing items recently. Last week, Zlatan Fazlagic lost a friend’s box of family photos after it fell out of the back of his truck.

He posted about the incident online. Two university students found and took home the box prior, and returned it when they saw a post about the missing box on Facebook.

“I was like, ‘Can I open the box?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, yeah, everything is there, we didn’t touch anything,’” said Fazlagic on Friday. “It was just wonderful.”

Social media can also offer help reuniting loved ones.

Anita Klassen maintains the Regina Lost & Found Pets Facebook group and Twitter page.

Hundreds of people in Regina and surrounding area post photos of their missing pets, and also help locate others’ missing pets.

“I’ve even had birds on this page,” she said.

Klassen said she’s helped reunite over 100 pets in the two years since she helped create the page.

“As soon as I post something, people are sharing it,” she said. “Oh, it makes me so happy, I’m like satisfied that I’ve done my part in the world.”

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Meanwhile, Straker is hopeful his laptop will be returned.

“You can try to protect yourself all you want, but where there’s a will, there’s a way, and I was, unfortunately – I was away at the wrong time,” said Straker.