A widow was left heartbroken when she discovered her late husband’s rare comic book collection was stolen from their home after the books had been in his family for generations. Amy Williams’ husband, Johnny Williams, died from a heart attack in 2022 — just two years after they welcomed their son Makari into the world, KVVU-TV reported.
“He just wanted to love me for eternity,” she told the outlet. “Even though I didn’t get my forever, I am glad I gave him his forever.”
Johnny had left behind two bins full of comic books and said that — besides being rare and kept in pristine condition — they held an even greater sentimental value to his legacy. Last month, while she was out of town, someone broke into Williams’ home and stole two bins containing about 400 comic books.
“I went to go in my closet and I’m like, ‘Oh my God they are gone,’” she told the outlet.
They had been in her husband’s family for four generations and are what he used to learn to read as a child since he was dyslexic. He was so passionate about his collection that he had a YouTube channel where he would discuss his love for his comic books.
Before his death, she often found her husband lost in reading comic books from his collection and even reading them to her infant son. Williams said the toll of losing the comic books robbed their son of having a connection with his father, as Johnny planned on passing them on to Makari when he was older.
“He wanted them passed down to my son to my son’s kids,” Williams explained.
“You broke my kid’s heart, and you broke my family’s heart by doing what you did,” Williams sternly said of the thieves.
Even though she has faced some financial hardships since her husband died, it never crossed her mind to sell off the collection.
“You couldn’t put a price tag on it,” she said.
The heartbroken widow said even if she got one comic book back from the collection, it would mean the world to her so she could give their son something to remember his father by.
Williams hopes that the culprits responsible for stealing the comic books will be found if they try to sell them since her husband had some of them graded, and if they were to be sold, his name would be attached to them.
She reached out to police and the investigation is still ongoing.
In the meantime, strangers have sent comic books to Makari helping him to rebuild the comic book collection. More than 100 books have poured in and the furthest has come from Hawaii. One man, Philip Rabon, drove from Phoenix to Las Vegas to personally deliver comic books to Makari.
Amy said Makari now tells people, “My Daddy’s comic book collection was stolen, but some nice people are rebuilding my collection.”
“I am just so blessed by the love to my family,” Amy said.
Amy also said she’s working with the comic book company to find the serial numbers of the comic books in hopes they will be traced and help solve the crime.