Drowned teen's home burglarized during funeral WALNUT CREEK

Matthew Miller (pictured, 16) and his friend Gavin Powell died while trying to raft on a river in Walnut Creek, Calif. Matthew Miller (pictured, 16) and his friend Gavin Powell died while trying to raft on a river in Walnut Creek, Calif. Photo: Courtesy Photo Photo: Courtesy Photo Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Drowned teen's home burglarized during funeral 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The family of one of the two Walnut Creek teenagers who drowned while rafting in a creek over the weekend returned home after burying him and found their home burglarized, police said Friday.

The break-in at Robert and Julia Miller's home on Homestead Avenue happened between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Thursday, when the family was attending a private funeral for 16-year-old Matthew Miller.

Matthew and a friend from Las Lomas High School, Gavin Powell, 17, drowned last Saturday while trying to ride an inflatable raft down rain-swollen Sans Crainte Creek, which drains into a concrete chute with 20-foot cement walls. Their bodies were found Sunday in Concord.

While the Miller family buried their son, someone tried to force open the front door of their four-bedroom home but was unsuccessful, police said.

The intruder then broke the glass on the door, reached in and unlocked it. When the family came home, they found that keys and other items had been stolen.

Whoever broke into the home remains at large.

"Just cold, heartless people, that's all I can say," said Brian Nidever, a locksmith who made a new set of locks for the house later Thursday.

Police said it was unclear whether the burglar knew who lived in the home.

"We want to think it was coincidental, but I think you probably have people looking through the obituaries, looking for high-profile deaths or whatever, or get information from the media," Nidever said.

In December 2009, a Redwood City couple broke into the Sonoma home of a family of four who had been killed days earlier in a car crash. An attorney for one of the defendants said her client had been told about the vacancy "by someone in the real estate business."

Public funerals for Matthew and Gavin will be held over the weekend.

A fund has been set up to help Gavin's family, which is struggling with financial and medical issues, friends say. Checks can be sent to Bank of America, account number 05970-70974, routing number 121000358.