Allie Long, fresh off a World Cup title with the United States women's national soccer team, said her Los Angeles hotel room was burglarized with her wedding ring, cash and key to New York City among the missing items.
Long and her teammates were honored in New York City on Wednesday with a ticker-tape parade up the Canyon of Heroes to celebrate the World Cup title. Mayor Bill de Blasio gave the players symbolic keys to the city during a ceremony at City Hall. The U.S. team then flew to Los Angeles to attend ESPN's ESPYs awards show Wednesday night, where they were honored as the best team.
After the show, Long said she and her husband left their room to eat with teammate Alex Morgan and her husband a couple of doors down. Long said she left the latch out on the door and was gone for 30 minutes.
"When I came back to the latch, the door was shut. So, I was like, 'That's weird. Now I have to go get a key,' " Long told Newsday. "Because we just left it open a couple of rooms down. I went down and got a key. I thought security was closing my door."
When she returned to her room, Long, who was born in Huntington, N.Y., and grew up in Northport N.Y., said it appeared nothing had happened since her World Cup medal and other valuables were untouched.
Long, 31, said the stolen items are worth over $25,000.
"At first, of course, I was so unbelievably upset," Long said. "Your wedding ring is so sentimental and means so much, more than the amount of money of what it's worth. The sentimental value is something that is hard to get over. The key to New York, which was extremely sentimental as well. At the end of the day, those are just things. I'm just glad that me and my husband were OK and nothing happened."
Long said the incident is under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Long initially revealed the theft on her verified Twitter account on Thursday night and asked de Blasio if she could get another key to the city.
"So sorry to hear it, Allie," de Blasio wrote on his verified Twitter account. "Hang in there. Don't worry about the key. Like any good New Yorker, we keep a spare for our neighbors. We got you covered."
Long was selected to play in her first World Cup when U.S. head coach Jill Ellis picked her for the team in May. Long appeared in one match for the U.S. in the World Cup, playing 31 minutes in the second half of a 3-0 win over Chile in the group stage.
"I am also happy that they didn't take my (World Cup) medal," Long said. "That would have been devastating."
