GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A dream destination wedding turned into a nightmare for a Grand Rapids couple after thieves in Costa Rica broke into their rental house the night of their ceremony, stealing items worth thousands of dollars.
“We try not to [let it] take too many of our memories, but it’s definitely a big, dirty stain,” said Aleah Tompkins. “I joke like, ‘Can we just redo it?’”
In March, Aleah and her husband, Austin, got married in Playa Potrero, a beach community on the country’s Pacific coast.
“We plan on having a future there, like moving down there… so that was our biggest reason why we wanted to have our wedding down,” said Aleah. “For all of our friends and family to see how beautiful it is and see why we have such a connection there.”
However, more than a month later, it’s the hours after their ceremony that their guests remember the most.
The couple explains that during their wedding night, as they and their loved ones slept in their rental home, someone robbed them.
No one realized it had happened until the next morning.
The thieves stole cash, seven cell phones, a computer, and iPad, AirPods, the camera with all of their professional wedding photos and an opal necklace that belonged to Aleah’s grandmother.
“It’s difficult to know that we have this beautiful wedding, but then for everyone years on, I'm sure will be talking about the event that happened,” said Austin.
According to the couple, local police told them that they thought the property management company, Tropical Homes of Costa Rica, may be involved since two of their other houses were targeted that night too.
FOX 17 could not reach investigators to verify the information.
The Tompkins have tried to request a refund through Tropical Homes and VRBO, the website they used to book the house for the wedding, but the claims have been denied.
“We tried to grasp onto things that we still have, like we were safe,” said Aleah. “It could have been completely different because you can't imagine someone coming into a home, with nine people staying in it, and in the middle of the night going into each individual room and not thinking that they don't have something to protect themselves.”
The couple noted that afterwards, they learned that the security cameras outside of the home did not work.
They were aware of some issues with the locks on the front and back door, but say they did not say anything when they arrived since they were scheduled to get married on the beach behind the house later in the week.
Aleah says she struggles to sleep at night and is more nervous than she was before the incident.
“It really seemed like they [the thieves] knew exactly where to go and what to do, so if you think about it like that, it was really pretty scary,” said Austin.
John Lovell, who owns Breton Travel, recommends people purchase traveler's insurance, which would cover lost or stolen items, and book through well-known, highly-rated agencies.
He also advises the following:
- Leave jewelry, technology, and other expensive items at home
- Do not carry large amounts of cash
- Put credit cards in various places
- Utilize room safes or other measures like locks
- Enroll in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) which is a free service that allows U.S. citizens and nationals traveling and living abroad to register their trip with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Those who signed up would received information about safety updates about their destination country and helps officials and loved ones contact them in case of an emergency
“When you think about it, you're out of your normal, daily environment,” said Lovell. “You're doing something that's fun, you're making decisions you don't normally make, and all of a sudden, that dark alley that you would never walk down in downtown Grand Rapids, you walk down wherever you happen to be, and that just turns into a bad decision.”
The Tompkins plan to travel differently in the future too. They hope their story reminds others to keep their guards up while on vacation.
“My trust is definitely gone a little bit, which is hard,” said Aleah.
