CLINTON — They came to South Whidbey for a future, then somebody broke into their Clinton storage unit and carried away their past.

“They took what little family legacy I have to pass on to Tasa here,” said Jesse Brighten, 27, cuddling his 7-month-old son.

“I try not to be cynical about the whole thing,” said his partner and Tasa’s mother, Sumer Ma’hale Eberhart, 27. “I want to have trust in people.”

But they’re angry and dismayed that someone would make off with things of little value to strangers, but of enormous sentimental value to them.

Brighten said he discovered the break-in on Sept. 20, when he went to the unit in which the family had stored many of its belongings since summer.

“They came through the ceiling,” Brighten said Sunday, “and they opened the door from the inside.”

The couple had come from Tucson, Ariz., about a year ago to stay with family in Clinton to advance their artistic careers and to await the birth of Tasa.

“The burglary popped a bit of a bubble,” said Eberhart. “It seemed so much safer here than in Tucson. It took me four months to relax when I got here.”

“We had our things stored in an unsecured unit in Arizona for a year, and nothing ever happened,” Brighten said. “This place was supposed to be secure.”

Missing is a money bag with photos of Brighten’s father, who died in 2001.

Missing are some tools, including a 250-pound arc welder his father gave him.

“He taught me how to weld with it when I was 8,” Brighten said. “That was the last time it was used.”

He said he was planning to use the welder to open a welding shop, and to continue his metal sculpting.

Missing are several knick-knacks from family members and friends, all deceased.

Missing is his father’s gold watch, the hands stopped at the precise hour of his father’s death.

“They even took my wisdom teeth,” Brighten said. “They took personal things that were gifts from people. It’s a long list.”

What hurt Eberhart most was the loss of her grandfather’s tan-and-white 1961 Fender guitar. She said he used to serenade her mother during the short time mother and grandfather were together.

“When Jesse called and told me, I just started to cry,” she said. “When I told my mother, she just started to sob.”

“That guitar is so saturated with sentimentality,” she added. “And now it’s gone. There’s a real ripple effect when something like this happens.”

Eberhart lost other things, too.

Missing is a little box containing flowers from her grandfather’s funeral.

Missing are the Army dog tags given to her by her brother, who has served tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Missing is the face from a watch that once belonged to her grandmother, who died last New Year’s.

Missing is a card-swiping debit machine used by Brighten in a reptile-selling business he once operated in Arizona.

Brighten said the Island County Sheriff’s Office is continuing the investigation, but so far has had nothing to report.

The couple went to the mainland during the weekend to distribute fliers about the theft to pawn shops and other resale outlets.

Eberhart hopes someone will take stock of the real loss involved in the incident and will return some of the items, no questions asked.

“I worry about the people who took the things, because they’re things from the dead,” she said. “They’re going to make themselves really ill.”

Island County Undersheriff Kelly Mauck said he hasn’t noticed any increase in storage-unit burglaries in the area.

“Our burglaries tend to come in rashes, typically the work of the same people,” he said. “And most of those are residential.

“But we certainly expect that with the change in the economy, when people start losing their jobs, crime increases and we may get busier,” he added.

Most South End storage operators say the demand for units is high, but that they haven’t experienced any break-ins or attempted break-ins. Most credit security measures taken, such as perimeter fencing, alarm systems and regular surveillance.

“I haven’t seen any evidence of people trying to break into units,” said Cheryl Patterson, manager of A-OK Self Storage in Freeland, which was built in 2001.

“You always anticipate that,” she said. “In cities, break-ins are a huge problem.”

“We haven’t experienced any of that,” added Debra Waterman, co-owner of Waterman Self Storage in Langley. “We have somebody living on-site.”

Eberhart said she understands that hard times and other circumstances can turn some people to crime.

“We live from month-to-month,” she said. “But we don’t turn to stealing from other people to make ends meet.” Anyone with information can call the Sheriff’s Office tip line at 321-5113.

Roy Jacobson can be reached at 221-5300 or rjacobson@southwhidbeyrecord.com.