The recovery of a personal daybag in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, more than three years after it was stolen during a residential burglary, has provided a rare conclusion to a criminal incident that coincided with a life-altering medical emergency for a former corporate attorney turned travel writer. The item, a specialized Tom Bihn Synapse backpack belonging to Jodi Ettenberg, was discovered by a maintenance worker during a routine chimney cleaning on the roof of a residence located only a few doors down from the original crime scene. This development offers a unique perspective on the intersection of urban crime, digital communication, and the psychological process of trauma recovery.
Chronology of the 2017 Burglary and Concurrent Medical Emergency
The origins of this case date back to August 2017, a period that marked a significant turning point in the life of the victim. At the time, Ettenberg, a Canadian citizen and former lawyer who had gained international recognition for her travel site, Legal Nomads, was staying in a Park Slope apartment while cat-sitting for friends. On the night of the incident, Ettenberg was admitted to an emergency room to undergo a lumbar puncture—a procedure intended to diagnose a suspected medical issue.
Digital evidence from the apartment’s security system, specifically a baby monitor camera, later confirmed a chilling coincidence: the perpetrator entered the residence at the exact moment the medical procedure began at the hospital. While Ettenberg was undergoing the spinal tap—which subsequently resulted in a debilitating cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak and long-term disability—the burglar was systematically removing valuables from the home.
The stolen items included a laptop, various pieces of jewelry belonging to the permanent residents, and Ettenberg’s travel backpack. In a peculiar display of selective theft, the perpetrator used the backpack to transport the stolen goods but left behind Ettenberg’s Canadian passport and a five-dollar Canadian bill on the sofa before exiting the premises. The backpack, containing Ettenberg’s secondary personal items, then vanished for over forty months.
Discovery and the Role of Digital Intermediaries
The recovery process began in late 2020 when a resident in the Park Slope area contracted a professional chimney sweep to perform maintenance on a vent that had not been serviced for several years. During the cleaning, the technician discovered the backpack tucked into the side of a chimney vent on the roof. The location suggests the perpetrator may have discarded the bag shortly after the crime, possibly to avoid detection while carrying more high-value items, or as a temporary cache that was ultimately forgotten.
The homeowner, identified only as a neighbor from the same block as the burglary, discovered Ettenberg’s identity through expired credit cards and business cards remaining in the bag’s compartments. Utilizing social media as a primary investigative tool, the resident attempted to contact Ettenberg via Facebook.
However, the message was initially diverted to the platform’s "Message Requests" folder—a filtered inbox often referred to by users as "Facebook purgatory"—where it remained unseen for approximately one month. It was only in early 2021 that Ettenberg discovered the correspondence, which inquired if she had "lost or had a backpack stolen in the last few years."
Inventory and Condition of Recovered Property
Upon the successful facilitation of the bag’s return, an inventory of the contents revealed a mixture of personal effects and debris. While the high-value electronics and jewelry remained missing, several items of significant personal and practical value were recovered:
- Prescription Eyewear: Two pairs of prescription glasses, which Ettenberg had been forced to replace at significant expense following the theft. Although the frames suffered from warping due to three years of exposure to New York’s extreme seasonal temperature fluctuations, they were deemed potentially restorable by an optometrist.
- Financial Instruments: Several credit cards, all of which had expired in the intervening years.
- Personal Ephemera: Business cards from professional networking events, hand lotion, and over-the-counter medication (Tylenol).
- Anomalous Items: A single blue die was found inside the bag, which Ettenberg confirmed did not belong to her, suggesting it may have been placed there by the perpetrator or fell in during the bag’s time on the roof.
The Tom Bihn daybag itself, though weathered by years of exposure to the elements on a Brooklyn rooftop, remained structurally intact, a testament to the durability of the high-end materials used in its construction.
Statistical Context: Burglary Trends in Brooklyn’s 78th Precinct
The 2017 burglary occurred within the jurisdiction of the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) 78th Precinct, which covers the Park Slope neighborhood. To understand the broader context of this incident, it is necessary to examine the prevailing crime data for the period.
In 2017, the 78th Precinct reported a total of 137 burglaries. While Park Slope is generally characterized as a high-income, low-crime residential area, the "crime per capita" rates often fluctuate based on targeted theft of high-end electronics and residential "crimes of opportunity." By 2020, the year the bag was found, burglary rates in the same precinct had seen a notable increase, rising to 191 reported incidents—a trend mirrored across several New York City neighborhoods during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The recovery of stolen property years after a report is filed is statistically rare. According to national law enforcement data, the recovery rate for stolen personal property (excluding motor vehicles) typically hovers below 20%. The discovery of the backpack on a roof, rather than in a pawn shop or discarded in a public trash receptacle, highlights the unpredictable nature of "cold case" property recovery in dense urban environments.
Psychological Impact and the "Llamafication" of Trauma
For the victim, the return of the backpack served as more than a recovery of physical goods; it acted as a catalyst for processing the residual trauma of the 2017 incident. Ettenberg has been vocal about her journey with a spinal CSF leak, a condition that causes severe neurological symptoms and has rendered her largely unable to maintain the nomadic lifestyle she once led.
The backpack represented the "liminal weight" of her former life—the transition point between her identity as a mobile, healthy professional and her current reality as a person living with a chronic disability. To mitigate the emotional distress of receiving an item associated with the worst night of her life, a close associate and former legal colleague, identified as Cheryl, intervened.
Cheryl, who worked with Ettenberg at a New York law firm before the latter transitioned to travel writing, took possession of the bag first. In an effort to "transmute" the negative associations of the object, she sanitized the bag and filled it with llama-themed gifts, including a sweatshirt, ornaments, and stationery. This gesture, described by Ettenberg as "llamafication," aimed to replace the "sediment" of traumatic memories with new, positive associations.
Broader Implications and Final Disposition
The final chapter of the backpack’s journey involved its donation to another friend. Having already received a replacement bag from the manufacturer, Tom Bihn, shortly after the 2017 story became public, Ettenberg chose to pass the "miracle bag" to someone who would use it for new purposes.
This case underscores several key themes in modern social and criminal discourse:
- The Persistence of Digital Footprints: The ability of a stranger to reconnect a lost item with its owner years later is a direct result of the searchable nature of modern identity.
- The Durability of Quality Goods: The physical survival of the nylon backpack after years of exposure to snow, rain, and heat suggests that high-quality manufacturing can play a role in the eventual recovery of items.
- The Complexity of Victimology: The story highlights that the "harm" of a burglary is rarely limited to the financial value of the stolen items. For Ettenberg, the theft was inextricably linked to a medical catastrophe, making the return of the bag a significant event in her long-term rehabilitation.
In conclusion, while the 2017 burglary in Park Slope remains an unsolved case in terms of criminal prosecution, the return of the property provides a form of "outlier" closure. It serves as a reminder of the unpredictable ways in which past events can resurface in an interconnected society, and the role that community and friendship play in navigating the aftermath of urban crime. Ms. Ettenberg continues to document her health journey and the evolution of her life post-disability, viewing the return of the bag as a symbolic closing of a difficult chapter.