Following break-in, family still ‘optimistic’

By Bernard Baker

Published: September 29, 2008

A Danville family is counting their blessings after thieves ransacked their home Saturday while they were at the local fair.

Someone broke into the home of Michael and Shannan Hutchinson at about 9:30 p.m., according to Lt. Col. Ronnie Simpson with the Pittsylvania County Sheriff’s Office.

Personal items, jewelry, a small amount of cash and other items were stolen, he said.

Simpson said detectives dusted for fingerprints and a laboratory analysis will be done on other evidence that the thieves left behind.

The thieves used part of a birdbath to smash the glass on the front door to get inside, Michael Hutchinson said.

Once inside, they went through the house thoroughly, but left behind a laptop computer and Bose stereo, he said.

Shannan Hutchinson, who has multiple sclerosis and was once sent to a hospice because doctors did not think she was going to live, said she is trying to remain “optimistic” about the burglary.

“There’s a lot worse going on in the world than this,” Hutchinson said. “There are kids with cancer and troops dying in Iraq.”

Hutchinson admitted she was upset when the family got back from the Danville-Pittsylvania County Fair and discovered the theft of irreplaceable items, as well as a ransacked house.

The family was concerned about the safety of their two dogs, Daisy and Bella, but they were OK, Hutchinson said.

“This was a very brazen act,” she added.

The Hutchinsons, however, are used to overcoming difficult situations. 

Shannan Hutchinson was paralyzed for five months in 2002 because of MS and it took her 18 months before she could walk again. In 2006, she was the grand prize winner of the Weight Watchers Inspiring Stories of the Year Contest.

The Hutchinsons’ son, Austin, has been involved in the Victory Junction Gang — a camp for children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses operated by NASCAR driver Kyle Petty. Austin has the rare blood-coagulation disorder hemophilia.

Contact Bernard Baker at or (434) 791-7986.