Almost everything she owned was in the van parked on Northwest 23rd

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A woman getting ready to start a new chapter of her life in Eugene has been hit with a huge setback.

Madeline McKee has experienced a lot of heartache in the past 3 years.

“It’s a lot of memories and a lot of stuff to sort through and so I was going to my hometown to breathe,” McKee said.

She borrowed a van from a friend, packed it up and was ready to drive south in the morning. But someone stole the van carrying almost all of McKee’s belongings from Northwest 23rd Avenue and Northwest Savier Street overnight Monday.

Among the things stolen were McKee’s antique bed and matress, her dresser with all her clothes and shoes, a nightstand with her daughter’s passport inside, her computer and paintings her artist sister made.

At the last minute, she also decided to pack photos of loved ones she has recently lost — her mother and son, Henry.

An undated photo of Madeline McKee and her son. (Courtesy of McKee)

“Today is 5 months since he died and next week is his birthday — he would have been 15,” McKee said. “I thought, you know, what else can I lose?”

The one thing she thankfully decided to leave in storage was her son’s ashes.

She said the van was locked and she didn’t see broken glass around where it was.

“My guess is that [the thief] will feel bad but they probably felt pretty desperate,” McKee said.

The van is a white, 4-door 1995 Ford E-250 with windows in the back but no side windows and no rear-view mirror. There is also a sticker on the back that says “Girl Power.”

“It’s just stuff but, you know, it was really important to me,” McKee said.