BONAIRE, Ga. — Many people rent storage units to make more room at their home or business or if they are in between moves.
One Houston County woman says she got one to keep her valuable items protected, but after being robbed twice, she feels stripped of her safety.
For a little over a year, Jamie Henderson has stored items at Moody Road Storage.
"I wanted to have my stuff somewhere where I felt safe and it wasn't safe," Henderson said.
At the end of both May and July, she says items were stolen from her unit.
"It's like they took a lot of my life away I was building for a business," she said. "I don't even feel like trying in life anymore because it's just going to be taken away from me,"
She lost antique items she stored away for her dream business and important military records. Plus she says she's lost important family items and heirlooms for her son.
"A lot of these were items that were from my grandma's house. Huge bags of vintage coins that I was just about to give to him," Henderson said.
Henderson doesn't know the exact total of her loss but believes she's lost at least $30,000 worth of property. She doesn't understand how, because management told her they offer top-notch security.
"There was a code to get in the gate. There was a code to get in the building and there's all these security cameras watching people coming in and out," Henderson said.
She says she's always kept her unit locked. Warner Robins Police tell us there were no signs of forced entry and don't have proof of business wrongdoing at this time.
Henderson says she doesn't feel like she has many options.
"I couldn't think of anything but keeping some wireless camera in my unit," Henderson said.
Police say this is the first reported robbery for this facility in 2023, but the place was robbed nearly 10 times at the start of 2022.
But if you have a storage unit, what can you do to stay safe from theft?
Experts with Angi's List say to make sure you have renters insurance regardless of whether your facility requires it and don't store anything insurance won't cover.
Police also recommend taking pictures and keeping records of everything you keep in your unit so that in the case of a theft it will be easier to identify and recover those items. They also recommend checking on your unit every few months, if possible.
We reached out to Moody Road Storage for comment, but we did not hear back.
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