Kanidtha Walden was the first one home and made the discovery. Their southeast-side home had been ransacked.
"I had my gun in the car, that little gun," she said. "I was panicked. I walked into the house with the gun shaking," she said.
TVs, computers and jewelry were all gone.
"My bed was flipped, everything missing," she said.
The Waldens say they called 9-1-1 several times but waited a long time.
"Our little boy, he's nine years old, he walks home from school in the evening and gets here by himself. It could have been a lot worse," Carl Walden said.
When Carl got home, he started tracking their stolen iPad. He grabbed his guns and got in the car with one goal.
"That I was going to find them," he said.
He tracked the thieves to a Texas City apartment and called Texas City police. After a lot of time and a search warrant, they found them, and Carl said he had a few things to say to them.
"I don't know who all was involved in breaking in the house, but there was five or six characters in this drama," he said.
Texas City police recovered many of the family's items and are testing them for evidence in the case.
Find Christine on Facebook at ABC13ChristineDobbyn or on Twitter at @christinedobbyn
Take ABC13 with you!
Download our free apps for iPhone, iPad and Android devices
