Liberty family returns home from Christmas travels to find cars missing, house burglarized

A Liberty family returned home after the Christmas holiday only to find that both of their vehicles had been stolen and their house had been burglarized.

While visiting relatives in Montana, Caley Walton, Justin Shackelford and their three children saw on surveillance footage that a car parked in the driveway of their Liberty home was stolen.

They filed a police report for the stolen car on Dec. 23, while still on vacation in Montana, according to Andy Hendrick, a spokesman with the Liberty Police Department. Police arrived at the scene around 12:21 a.m. and were unable to identify a suspect or recover the car.

When the family arrived at Kansas City International Airport the next day, the truck they had parked there was missing. The family reported the stolen car to the Kansas City Police Department, who are investigating the incident.

The family returned home and found that someone had entered their residence and stolen thousands of dollars worth of property.

“The damage was significant,” Hendrick said.

Police were called to the Liberty house at 10:04 p.m on Dec. 24 and were able to access surveillance footage of the incident.

They determined that a burglary had taken place while the family was away. Officers believe the suspects were able to access the home through items left in the stolen truck, Hendrick said.

A number of valuables were stolen from the residence, according to an online fundraiser started by the sister of Caley Walton. This includes: electrician tools, four car seats, a stroller, three guns, a computer, and iPads.

The fundraiser was started on Jan. 5, 2022, and as of Jan. 6 has raised a little more than $6,000 of its $10,000 goal.

Liberty and Kansas City police are still combing through surveillance footage from the robberies and attempting to identify suspects. The investigations are ongoing.

This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 2:55 PM.