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Personal effects of fallen Marine recovered, returned

ALLEGAN COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - In a Newschannel 3 exclusive, the father of a fallen Marine is talking to us about the Allegan County Sheriff's Office recovering property stolen from his son.

Joseph Courtney's son Gregory died in a car crash after returning home from Afghanistan.

In November, someone broke into Joseph Courtney's home and stole some of his son's Marine memorabilia.

Someone climbed up on to an old milk jug to crawl through Courtney's back window.

The thief made his way to the bed and stole his late son's camcorder tapes, a Marine sign, his backpack and a camera that contained 3,000 photos.

The Allegan County Sheriff's Office says they located half the stolen property while investigating another crime.

Courtney says his son's belongings, including a video camera containing video of his time in Afghanistan was strewn across the house.

We asked him how he feels, and what he did as soon as he got his son's priceless belongings back.

"Well, I actually had to charge the battery for about an hour. I sat there and watched the videos again, I feel so good. The tapes are locked away now, one of the best things that's ever happened," said Courtney.

Courtney says his son's digital camera with 3,000 photos is still missing, but deputies tell him they are confident they will be able to find them too.