BILLINGS — For the second time in two months, renters at the Duck Creek storage facility between Billings and Laurel went to their units and found them destroyed.
Brandon and Larrissa Abell have been renting from Duck Creek on Kautzman Road for four months. Half of their time spent there has been dealing with losing many of their belongings. The historic flooding in June damaged much of what they had in the unit and at the end of July, almost anything left of value was stolen.
"We had our kid’s computers in here, those are gone. All of our tools for work, snowboards, some kid’s toys, you name it they took it," said Larrissa.
Although the Abells lost what they estimate to be almost $3,000 in goods, the overall amount that the thieves got away with is unknown.
"We’re not the only ones that got our stuff stolen. Everybody here got their stuff stolen. So, who knows exactly the value of what’s been taken? I don’t think we’ll ever know what the number is on that," added Larrissa.
MTN News called Duck Creek storage for comment, but a representative who answered the phone declined.
Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder told MTN News Wednesday that he was not familiar with the case but would look into it further.
The units are still without locks since the thieves cut the pins to get in, not the locks themselves. Many renters are spending time going through their units and getting what's left out of their units and moved somewhere else, according to Brandon.
"Anybody can come in here and get whatever they want at any point in time since we still have no way to keep these closed. And I still have to pay if I want to keep it in here for the rest of the month," said Brandon.
When the flooding and burglaries occurred, the Abells said they only found out because they checked themselves. They said the owners knew about the events but in both cases declined to reach out to the renters. In the most recent case, they were told, "the police would reach out to them when the report is filed," said Brandon.
No suspects have been identified thus far and while the property does have on-site cameras, the Abells are skeptical they even work.
"We don't know if they even work," Larrissa said.
"They could be just for show just to keep people out or keep people away. I hope they function and can help catch these people," added Brandon.
