Food from a fridge and freezer, stocked full of $600 worth of groceries, was stolen late last night from the home of a Mandurah single mum.
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Speaking with the Mail, Chelsea Gildea said she was home at the time but didn't hear a thing.
"Me and my son were home. I was fast asleep. They just lifted up the garage door, came through the side of the house and went through the laundry door.
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"They've emptied out my fridges and freezers, taken all my kids formula, took my clothes and towels off the washing line and took my custom-made Bluetooth speaker.
"They've just left me with a jar of Vegemite," Ms Gildea said.
In a strange turn of events, Ms Gildea said that nothing valuable was stolen, with the thieves even leaving her handbag and wallet in the kitchen untouched.
"I'm a single parent of two kids, we'd just done a food shop the day before, we spent the last of our money. We had to go to Foodbank for the first time today.
"Paying for the groceries is a struggle. We plan it out to the dot to make it just last. We don't have spare cash, we spend it all on the food," she said.
Ms Gildea noted how the cost of her groceries had been increasing recently, making this robbery all the more stressful to try and replenish the stolen food.
"Our usual formula is $11, it's gone up to $14.50, when we go through two tins a week, it's hard.
"They [Foodbank Peel] gave us tinned food, but they don't stock things like meat and baby food or formula," Ms Gildea said, adding that she would now have to drive to other Foodbanks in search of baby formula.
Police and forensics were at the scene this morning, with Ms Gildea saying two fingerprints had been discovered.
"The police said they think it's someone struggling or homeless.
"I have a good idea of who it was," Ms Gildea said, adding that her car had been broken into multiple times, believing it to be the same people behind her recent robbery.
"The kids don't know what's happened. We'll be working with the police, they said if they don't get a match it's just going to get filed.
"I'm scared about the fact that the kids were home," Ms Gildea said, adding that her focus now remains on replenishing the stolen food and attempting to feel safe again in her home.
