Woman Pleads For Safe Return Of Family Painting Stolen From Car
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A woman is searching for a priceless painting that was stolen out of her car in Inwood.
Annette DiIorio's car was parked on a quiet street in Inwood last week when someone broke into it, CBS 2's Cindy Hsu reported.
"So this was open, everything was scattered on the floor," DiIorio said.
DiIorio had nothing expensive in the car, the only things taken were from the trunk -- including her son's fold-up play-pen and a painting that meant the world to her.
"The painting was sort of leaning on top of boxes here," she said.
It was a painting of her grandfather, who passed away years ago.
DiIorio said she had the painting made from a picture as a gift for her father on his 80th birthday.
Her parents were married for more than 50 years and she lost both of them in the last few months. That's why she said her trunk was filled with mementos from her parents' home.
"So that's why I had a few things in the car from the house and I should have brought it up but I didn't, because I wasn't ready to have it in the house yet," she said.
DiIorio said she had a special relationship with her grandfather.
"The last few years of his life he actually lived in our house after my grandmother passed away. So I use to drive him to church on Sundays and he would buy me pancakes afterwards," she said.
There's no real monetary value in the painting. In fact, the artist refused to accept any money because he was so touched by the love amid the tight-knit family, Hsu reported.
But it is priceless to DiIorio and she had a message for whomever has it.
"Please, please return it. If they can find it in their heart to return it," she said.
While the artist could paint another picture for her, DiIorio said knowing the original had hung in her parents' home is what meant so much to her.
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