Wigs For Cancer Patients Worth Up To $80K Were Stolen In Vancouver This Week (VIDEO)
A Vancouver wig store has been robbed of several thousand dollars worth of product. On Sunday, March 8, Jo Hair Studio was burglarized early in the morning at around 4:20 a.m. The thief entered the store after-hours and stole wigs right off stands. This Vancouver wig store is known for providing natural, hand-made wigs to cancer patients.
Narcity spoke to Jessica Jo, the owner of the hair studio, who explained what happened and how they came to discover the shocking burglary.
Jo told us that the store is normally closed on Sundays and Mondays, so when the staff showed up on Tuesday, March 10, they found that multiple wigs had been taken off the displays.
The staff checked in with each other to figure out where the wigs had gone. When they realized that no one knew where the wigs were, Jo brought the security footage back up and realized that they were robbed over the weekend.
The footage of the robbery has been posted on the studio's Instagram.
In the video, the suspect is seen tinkering with something near the bottom of the glass door. After gaining entry, they rush towards the wigs placed by the window and begin grabbing them and stuffing them into their bag.
Jo told us that the person didn't take any synthetic wigs; they only grabbed the expensive ones.
She assumes that the thief knew how to identify them. Jo also said the thief must have been inside the store before because they seemed to know where the camera was.
According to Jo, the wigs are worth between $60,000 and $80,000. However, Vancouver police said the theft was reported to them at a value of $30,000, as reported by Global News.
Discussing how the thief could have broken in, Jo thinks they may have had a "magic key" or something of the sort. There is an alarm attached to the door, but it didn't go off when the thief broke in.
Jo said that the store will install new surveillance cameras around the store, particularly in areas that can capture faces more clearly.
Jo said, "the wig market is very niche. It's not for everyone. That's why the [thief] knew the value of the wigs, otherwise, they wouldn't do it."
She said that some of the wigs placed at the front display sell for as high as $3,000 per wig.
Jo confirms that cancer patients are her main clients. The studio provides custom, handmade wigs for these individuals.
That's why she believes the values run so high for these wigs because they provide a more natural look for anyone who wears them.
A similar incident took place almost two years ago when a thief stole $375,000 worth of wigs from a store that catered to child cancer patients. The suspect from this case was taken into custody a year ago.