SALT LAKE CITY - Tara Younker, a resident in Sugar House, returned home from a month and a half out of town to find her home ransacked with thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.
"It's going to cost $5,000 just to start the cleanup process," Younker said.
Younker was surprised by what she saw when she walked through the front door, but admits, she was shocked when she found out who she thinks did it.
"They were my cousins," Younker said. "There were seven juveniles in the house when Salt Lake City Police took them out -- seven of them."
Younker said she left town the day before Thanksgiving to visit her father in Las Vegas, where she owns another home.
"They were just sitting there waiting," Younker thinks.
In the five-plus weeks that Younker believes her cousins were living in her home, she said they trashed her furniture, stole her clothing, and wrote on her walls.
"When they realized the gig was up, this is what they did," Younker said while pointing to a ceiling fan with all the blades bent downward.
Younker said Salt Lake City Police have arrested almost everyone involved, and even though they are under the age of 18, she's interested in pursuing charges. She said the damage they caused is devastating.
"We don’t know what’s salvageable. We honestly don’t know, probably not much,” she said.
