Stolen Miss Emily merch returned
The Kingston music community is now able to report its third positive ending to a bad situation this year. Earlier this month, Jonas Lewis-Anthony, lead singer of The Wilderness, was reunited with prized acoustic guitar nearly two years after it was stolen. In February, Spencer Evans’ recently stolen clarinet was returned unscathed. And on Sunday, Jude Murano, merchandise manager for local singer-songwriter Miss Emily, found out that a suitcase full of merch that had been stolen from her car on Friday was also returned.
“I was spending the night at my son’s house in Auden Park,” Murano explained. “I had the merch with me, packed up and ready to go for the Picton show the next night. I have a bad shoulder and couldn’t lift it all into the trunk, so it was in the front seat. The suitcase full of shirts and CDs was nabbed, along with a few things I had just bought at Shoppers like blood pressure medication and cortisone for my shoulder. It’s a pretty great neighbourhood, but a bunch of cars up and down the street were hit that night. My son lost an iPad.”
As soon as Murano realized what happened, she got the word out on social media and started looking around the neighbourhood.
“That merch really isn’t any good to anyone but Emily [Fennell, aka Miss Emily] and me,” said Murano. “I thought maybe they would ditch the clothes and keep the luggage, so I drove around looking all over the neighbourhood and Lemoine Point for a pile of Miss Emily shirts. My son (Noele Murano) put a post out on Facebook and it really took off. We figured with all the publicity, the thieves couldn’t have done much with it even if it was worth something.”
Between Murano’s own posts and her son’s, the plea to have the merch returned was shared over 800 times, including by Kingstonist and other local media outlets.
By Saturday night, the merch had turned up.
“A neighbour found the suitcase in her shrubbery,” said Murano. “I’ve been joking that maybe the thieves went home, had a nice nap thanks to the blood pressure medication they stole from me, then woke up to realize that they might as well bring the suitcase back.”
Murano’s medication, and her son’s iPad, were not returned, but she’s grateful for what was recovered, particularly because it wasn’t hers.
“I hardly slept that weekend,” said Murano. “I’ve had my car broken into before, and it’s awful, but this merch doesn’t belong to me. That weighed a lot of heavier on me than if it was all my own things.”
With the worst part of the incident behind her, Murano is grateful for all the support she received, and her son’s attentive neighbours.
“These guys were jerks,” said Murano of the thieves. “But there are way more people with heart in this city who will get behind these types of things when help is needed.”