Dear Editor,
We have a property 10 minutes from Silves, which is fairly isolated. We have just been informed by relatives, who live in the Algarve and regularly check our property, that they discovered our bed frame outside the house and our bedroom strewn with bedding. The only thing they can see is missing from our house is the washing machine!
The property had been relocked with a key the intruders must have found (which we thought was well hidden). The whole thing seems very bizarre but also distressing. We will have to make an unscheduled trip to check on our contents which seem, from our relative’s point of view, not to have been taken.
It looks as though they were looking for cash under the mattress, in drawers and cupboards which have been left open, although not emptied out as might have happened.
We are not contacting the police as our relatives have at least four neighbours and friends who have had robberies and unfortunately the police do not seem to be much help.
We wonder how many other property owners like ourselves have had strange events such as ours and not reported them?
As most residents and visitors read your paper we wondered if you have started compiling a list of everyone who has had incidents of a criminal nature, reported or not. If not, perhaps you could invite your readers to help you to do so. This might at least give some kind of scale to the problem that could be shared with the authorities. This would seem to be more proactive than just asking for views on these stories.
Val and Bill Jarvis
By email
Editor’s note: Dear Val and Bill, thank you for your email. I am sorry to hear about your unfortunate incident. We keep a record of every incident of a criminal nature that reaches our office. However, unreported crimes would not be taken into account by the authorities. That is why it is so important that all incidents are reported to the authorities – and this is my personal advice.
