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Thief takes $3,000 in donations from cancer fundraiser

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Police are looking for whoever stole thousands of dollars worth of donations from a local fundraiser to fight cancer at the Curtain Call Dance Center on the west side.

Curtain Call Dance Center, located near West 21st Street and North Girls School Road, hosted a two-day, weekend fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, its annual Dance Against Cancer. The students performed and stole the show Saturday, and someone else stole $3,000 worth of donated gift cards and gift certificates from a room with a silent auction.

“I was very angry. Lots of tears. No sleep,” Curtain Call business director Andra Ignas said. “I actually didn’t believe it happened when the person came to tell me. I was like, ‘No, go look, it’s in there.’”

Ignas is a cancer survivor and captain of Curtain Call’s Relay For Life team.

She said a staff member left the auction room to watch her great niece perform for two minutes. That’s when the thief moved in and out.

Curtain Call Director Sara Little said families and businesses read about the theft on social media. The dance center picked up nearly $2,000 worth of new auction items, donated in time for the Sunday show.

“We used it an as an opportunity to teach (the students) perseverance and to let them know that, even though bad things happen, there are still good people out there that rally and come through,” Little said. 

The group still reached its $15,000 fundraising goal. 

Next year, Curtain Call said it will hire security officers for the fundraiser. 

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has not released any suspect information. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477.

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