More than half a ton in silver bullion was stolen from a Chilliwack home in February by two men wearing the insignia of RCMP officers.
And in August, a Hope resident reported the theft of over $30,000 in silver bullion from his car parked outside the Blue Moose Cafe while he was having dinner.
The man said he might have left the car door open.
The 52-year-old Chilliwack homeowner told The Progress that the $750,000 in silver bars he kept in a home safe was a “big chunk” of his retirement savings.
He offered a $20,000 reward for any information resulting in the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators, and recovery of the silver bars.
The victim said he was home alone when the two men burst through the door shouting “where’s the woman” as if they were answering a domestic violence call.
The gun-toting intruders then beat and threatened the victim in order to get the location and combination of the safe containing the silver.
The victim was then tied up and stuffed in a bedroom closet while the robbers made their getaway, possibly in a white, sedan-type vehicle.
Police said the two males entered the house at about 1:40 p.m. on Feb. 9 and made off with about 1,400 lbs. of silver bars.
The two suspects were described as white males in their early 30s, with medium builds, dark hair and facial hair.
The victim said he kept the bullion at home because, unlike gold, silver takes up a lot of space and no bank safety deposit boxes were big enough to hold it.
But he has since learned that a bank in Toronto, Ont., would have rented space in its vault.
rfreeman@theprogress.com
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