‘If you have it, give it back:’ Prized guitar stolen in burglary of local family’s home

SALADO, Texas (KWTX)-- A family in Salado is pleading with whoever broke into their home to return a prized 1970s model Fender electric guitar that was passed down from a dying uncle.

“If you have it, give it back. It’s mine. Because you didn’t take a guitar, you took a family bond,” homeowner Bryan Smith said.

The Smiths lead a band called the Wayworn Travelers, and although they play multiple shows a month, they never use the guitar, an heirloom they kept in a closet.

“My uncle Mike (and I) bonded whenever I was a teenager because he was a guitar player,” Smith said.

“He got sick several years ago with cancer and he told me he wanted me to have that guitar when he died.”

Burglars broke into the Smith family’s home on Hackberry Road in Salado on March 12 while the Smiths were at work, the Bell County Sheriff’s Department said.

They got into the house through the garage and made off with a box containing $1,500, and two guitars including the prized Fender.

Family members say the burglars not stole their belongings, but also their sense of security.

“I was just petrified,” Angela Smith said.

“Every time a car passes by, I start thinking ‘why they are here.’”

The family has since armed their home with a security system and is asking for the burglars simply to drop off the guitar at the sheriff’s department.

Investigators, meanwhile, are asking anyone with information to call the sheriff’s department at (254) 933-5412.

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