Phuong Dinh moved across the world to Minnesota two decades ago with her 12-year-old daughter, in search of a better life.

She’s worked hard, often more than 12 hours a day, running a Vietnamese cafe on St. Paul’s University Avenue, said her daughter, Patricia Dinh. The 57-year-old saved her money, hoping to retire in about two years.

But on Saturday, Patricia Dinh returned to the North End home she shares with her mother and discovered it had been burglarized. Phuong Dinh had her life savings — worth about $200,000 — hidden in her bedroom and they had been stolen.

“She’s devastated,” Patricia Dinh said Wednesday. “We grew up Catholic and had so much faith in humanity. She worked so hard for it and we never thought anyone would steal it from her.”

Phuong Dinh kept her cash and gold bars at home because she didn’t trust banks, she told police. It’s a sentiment that’s common among some immigrants.

On Saturday, Patricia Dinh and her mother left for work about 9 a.m. The daughter returned to their Abell Street home, near Wheelock Parkway, about 6:20 p.m.

The 33-year-old saw a locked side door had been pried open and the entire house ransacked, said Steve Linders, a St. Paul police spokesman. She called police.

“I was terrified,” Patricia Dinh said. “I was shaking.”

She also alerted her mother, who came home. Officers noticed the woman “was very distraught and it appeared as if she was going to throw up,” Linders said.

They asked if she was OK and Phuong Dinh told the officers her entire life savings had been stolen — $60,000 in cash and 100 1-ounce gold bars. The gold bars were from the sale of Phuong Dinh’s home in Vietnam, her daughter said, and would be worth about $127,000 today.

“Nobody knew how much she had, including me,” said Patricia Dinh, adding she had no idea who would have burglarized their home.

Also stolen was a diamond ring, which police said was valued at $36,000. Patricia Dinh gave it to her mother for her birthday last year.

“She worked very hard, but never bought anything nice for herself,” she said.

Now, Phuong Dinh doesn’t know what’s in her retirement future. She’ll keep running Phuong Cafe at 1197 W. University Ave. And, Patricia Dinh said, they’re praying that the stolen items will be recovered — somehow.

“We’re hoping they could be found, always hoping,” she said.

Police are asking anyone with information to call them at 651-266-5771.