SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The producer of a U.S.-based television show is begging for the safe return of several video tapes stolen overnight from a truck parked outside the Explorer Hotel.

History Channel cameraman Gordy Waterman woke up yesterday morning to find the driver's side window of his crew's grey GMC Yukon smashed. Gone were a satellite phone, a small hi-def camera and - most importantly - tapes 11 through 20 of their trip filmed in the Tlicho this past week.

Cameraman Gordy Waterman with a box containing tapes one through 10, half of the segment's summer filming. - Lauren McKeon/NNSL Photo

The satellite phone was found later that afternoon in the wooded area near the hotel by two employees but it's the missing tapes that really have the crew sweating.

"Those tapes are irreplaceable," said Andrew Ames, the producer for the special one-hour segment on the Tli Cho First Nation.

The irony, he added, is that the 10 Panasonic DVC Pro video tapes that were stolen don't fit the stolen camera. Essentially, they're useless - to everybody except for the crew.

The ten stolen tapes contain filming for the "Trails of Our Ancestors" segment the History Channel is set to air later this year. Ames and his crew filmed the winter portion of the special in April, but the stolen tapes contained a large part of the summer filming.

"We're missing the amazing arrival (of the canoes), the greetings, the wonderful celebration and some of the key interviews," he said, referring to the Tli Cho canoe trip the summer filming focused on.

Some filming can be redone, he added but he lamented it won't be the same.

"In retrospect, it's pretty stupid," Ames said, admitting he had thought Yellowknife was safe enough to leave the valuables in the truck. "Obviously we're never going to do it again."

"Quite frankly, we get a number of reports on a fairly regular basis of vehicles being entered and items being taken," said RCMP Const. Roxanne Dreilich.

Indeed, Ames later learned four other break-ins were reported Thursday morning around the Explorer Hotel area.

"It surprises me what kinds of things people leave in their vehicles, that are susceptible and vulnerable to theft," she added, noting she'd had reports of everything from digital cameras, to wallets to laptops being stolen from cars.

The best thing for Yellowknifers, and those visiting, to do is to first lock their vehicles and secondly not leave valuables inside them, Dreilich said.

The History Channel crew was planning to leave for their base in Stamford, Connecticut at 4 a.m. this morning.

They're appealing to the thief to at least return the tapes to the police or to the Explorer Hotel for a $1,000 reward.

The tapes are the top priority, said Ames, although getting everything back would be nice.

"Half our trip is down the tubes," he said.