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An Antioch couple is asking for the public’s help after their wedding photographer became the victim of an auto burglary in Oakland, resulting in the loss of their wedding photographs.
The incident occurred on October 7 at approximately 11:00 a.m. as David Martin, owner of DMJ Photography, was traveling between jobs. Martin had parked his vehicle near 11th Street and Washington Street, near Swan’s Market in downtown Oakland, when thieves broke into his vehicle and stole his professional photography equipment.
Among the stolen items were memory cards and hard drives containing photographs from the October 4 wedding of Nick and Jenna Banks, who were married at La Grande Estates in Oakley.
The stolen equipment also included a hard drive containing years of Martin’s previous photography work, including images from the Banks wedding just three days earlier.
Now, what should have been one of the happiest weeks of the couple’s lives has turned into a desperate effort to recover irreplaceable memories.
According to Jenna Wesenhagen-Banks, the couple currently has no professional photographs from their wedding day. The only images they have are cellphone photographs taken by family and friends.
The Banks and Martin are asking the public for help locating the stolen memory cards and hard drives. They are also appealing directly to whoever stole the equipment, or anyone who may have purchased or come into possession of it, to return the storage devices.
No questions asked.
“No questions asked, simply return them,” said Jenna Banks.
Martin echoed that plea, emphasizing that while the stolen equipment has monetary value, the photographs themselves are priceless to the newlyweds.
“Memory cards are worth almost nothing to a thief, but they mean everything to this couple,” Martin said in a statement.
The couple is not asking for the expensive camera equipment to be returned. Their priority is recovering the memory cards and hard drives containing the photographs from their wedding day.
Anyone who has information about the stolen equipment or comes across the memory cards or hard drives is urged to help reunite the couple with their wedding photographs.
For Nick and Jenna Banks, this isn’t about recovering stolen property. It’s about recovering memories from a day they can never recreate.
Stolen items include:
Two Canon R5 camera bodies
Canon 85mm L prime, 24-70mm L, and 70-200mm L lenses
DJI gimbal and DJI Mini 5 Pro drone
Two Profoto A1X lights
MacBook Pro laptop
SanDisk Extreme Pro external hard drive, containing years of client work and the Banks wedding photos
SD and CFexpress memory cards containing the wedding photos
The theft was reported to the Oakland Police Department (RD# 26-042959)