Items said to have been stolen following Beds fire still missing
20 flats were destroyed after a fire at Redwood Grove in Bedford
A woman who lost her home following a fire at Redwood Grove in Bedford says she's devastated that personal items she believes were stolen from the property are no closer to being recovered.
What happened at Redwood Grove?
Emergency services were called out to a fire at Redwood Grove in Bedford just after 9am on July 4th.
A three-storey block of flats was significantly damaged in the fire, which caused a large section of the roof to collapse.
One person, Reena James, lost her life. Detectives believe Ms James deliberately started the fire that was targeted at a specific flat.
Police have said: "Entry was likely to have been forced into that flat, after which several areas were doused in a flammable liquid.
"The vapour from this accelerant became so great that, when it was ignited, it caused an explosion followed by the fire which took hold of the building."
Missing items
Karina Caetano was one of those who lost her home following the fire at Redwood Grove.
According to her, after the incident, she was contacted by the police to see if there were any items she would like recover.
Ms Caetano provided a list of items, as well as a number of photos, and a guide to where the possessions might be.
Though the police were able to return a few framed photos and a couple of other small items, a watch and jewellery box were both returned empty.
Since the discovery last year, Ms Caetano says she's no closer to finding out what happened to her items or getting them back, and she's starting to lose hope.
What's missing?
Ms Caetano told Greatest Hits Radio what was gone: "They stole from me, not only, jewellery that I had worked hard to buy but family given jewellery.
"Things that were given to me by my grandmother, who's no longer here and things that are from family members from a different country.
"So it's things that were passed down by generation and have a lot of sentimental value."
She added: "That was probably the worse experience...Finding out that sentimental things that you cherish so much were taken.
"That's very upsetting because that's literally the only thing you have left of certain family members."
What have the police said?
Chief Superintendent John Murphy said: “This was a large and incredibly complex scene and our officers worked hard over a number of weeks to protect the scene, in order to ensure it was safe for others leaving and entering the building and to preserve any forensic evidence.
“Unfortunately, at some point it is believed that someone managed to steal a number of items from one of the flats in question. While we believe this was an isolated incident, it is an unacceptable one, and as soon as we were made aware of the crime having taken place, we launched an investigation.
“Numerous individuals had access to the site for various reasons during this period, which was just one of a number of lines of enquiry we followed as part of this investigation.”
Ms Caetano is still searching for her items.