JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — Within the course of four months, the Bennett family lost almost everything they had worked for.
In the early morning hours of Sept. 17, their home caught on fire, destroying the entire back half of the home.
Melissa and Bobby Bennett have three boys together.
“Thirty years of a marriage went up in flames that night so it’s a lot of accumulation of materialistic things of course, but there was also a lot of memories,” said Melissa Bennett. “I mean tons of memories like my children’s pictures and mother’s day cards from when they were two and things of that nature.”
With what few items they had left, they stored in a trailer on the property. The Bennetts plan on tearing down their home and rebuilding it.
Bobby Bennett met contractors at the property the day after Christmas to inspect the property. It was then that he found out that the trailer was stolen.
“It’s not fun thinking that somebody would pull up seeing that you recently lost everything that you’ve worked for and then ‘oh well they have one other item sitting here that I can steal.’ And they end up stealing it from you, so it’s terrible,” said Bobby.
“It was like the only thing we had left and it was like, they just took it,” said Melissa.
2022 has not turned out to be the best year for the Bennett family, but they’re optimistic for the new year.
“Hopefully this year will be a lot better. I’m hoping,” said Melissa. “Just got to look up, keep going. There are days where I just feel like staying in bed, but yeah we’ll get through it.”
The Bennetts are very thankful to all of the first responders and neighbors who have helped them since the fire. They have not received their trailer or the contents of the trailer back.
The 2018 Homsteader Car Hauler trailer had a zero-turn mower, golf equipment and a remodeled Chevy truck inside. If you have any information about the trailer and its contents, please notify the Johnson City Police Department.
