Area geologist’s rock collection stolen, sympathy donations reach $500,000

CALGARY, Alberta – 2013.  The year that will forever be known as the year Calgarians stood in the face of disaster and dealt with the crisis not as neighbors, but family.  The destruction and devastation wrought by the flood left people without much but the clothes on their back.  During the crisis, police reported no looting or break-and-enter events in the flood ravaged areas.  Until now that is.

Deregan Doy, a geological consultant who has been away for the last 6 months came home this week to find that, although his home was hardly touched by the water, his priceless rock collection was stolen sometime in the last few weeks.

My sister was here checking the house 3 weeks ago, and she says the cases were still locked.  I got home last night and found my display cases swinging open, and all of my Precious were gone.  How can I ever replace them?  They were my babies, and it took me years of walking and probably 14 pairs of boots to collect all those beautiful stones.  I’m devastated.  – Deregan outside his home on Elbow Drive

Mr. Doy’s collection included rare crystal specimens, as well as more conventional samples representing oil and gas reservoirs from around the world.  Housed in custom, digitally locked and hermetically sealed cases similar to those found in the catacombs of the Vatican Archives, police are baffled at the skill required to steal, well, rocks.

This heist took incredible skill.  Digital locks, redundant laser motion sensors, and pressure pads under each case.  You would think Mr. Doy had seen one too many movies.  But it was a great setup, there is no doubt.  Whoever stole this collection was a pro.  We have an all points bulletin out at airports for people traveling with large quantities of rock.  But for now, that is all we can do. – Officer Awphassor, CPS Major Crimes Unit

 

The rock collection cannot be valued conventionally, as there were very few semi-precious stones in the collection.  But the variety of geological samples was astounding and had great sentimental value to Deregan Doy, according to University of Calgary grad student Jeremy Preelack.

Deregan and I worked some regions of Niberia together, and a little in Kastaluke, Albania.  He was always bringing home rocks and stone and crystals.  He loved it.  I saw him yesterday and he was devastated.  The guy has nothing else to live for.  Even his wife left him when he kept calling her Galena in bed, or so he told me.  This theft will be the end of him.

When news of the theft reached the ears of fellow geologists in Calgary, a trust was setup in Deregan’s name and donations began to roll in.  As of yesterday morning, the manager of the trust, James Franj, told 2P News reporters that almost $500,000 had been raised so far without so much as a bake sale.  As donations continue to roll in, one can only wonder where roughly 1200kg of rock has gone in such a short period, and with such stealth.

(One might almost wonder where his neighbor, a reservoir engineer with Bendovus Energy, got all the new gravel for his RV pad)