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Mardo Kiladjian is thankful to be alive. He's even more thankful that his father survived Monday night's horrifying experience that left employees at Provo's Losee Jewelry shaken.
Kiladjian, his father and a female employee were held a gunpoint, tied with duct tape and rendered helpless for 30 to 45 minutes while two men robbed their store.
Tuesday, while police continued to search for the jewel thieves, the three employees were still reeling after a sleepless night. But they all returned to work at 2230 N. University Parkway to pick up the pieces and survey their losses.
"[We're] shaken up," Kiladjian he told The Tribune. "Distressed. But we're alive and we're all right."
Kiladjian, president of the family owned company, was at the shore when two men posing as jewelry customers walked in Monday about 6:30 p.m.
He said the first man asked to look at rings, and about 10 minutes later a second man entered with some gold that he told the female employee he wished to sell. That's when the men pulled guns and pointed them at the employees, Kiladjian said.
"[He] forced me to close the front door and lock it," Kiladjian said. "He asked for the keys and that was that. We were tied up."
Provo police said the robbers, who spoke a foreign language, bound the three victims' eyes, mouths and hands with duct tape.
Tuesday afternoon, police spokesman Sgt. Mathew Siufanua stopped short of calling the men professionals but said the robbers "were very good at what they did," and left very little evidence behind.
"These guys were sharp," Siufanua said. "They timed it perfectly. They came in and nobody saw them. They had a full hour to do whatever they wanted."
Siufanua said police haven't ruled anything out. He said they've found similar robberies in other places across the nation but couldn't yet say if they might be related. He said it was possible the robbers weren't from Utah but targeted the store and have since left the area.
Kiladjian said he struggled to understand what was happening during the robbery.
"I couldn't really comprehend and figure out what they were," he said. "When all that's happening you're in panic mode. All you want is for your life to be not taken."
He said the robbers fled, stealing only the valuable jewelry, including a lot of diamond jewelry and bridal rings. "Almost everything."
The robbers left the prototypes, or fake jewelry, untouched. They also ran off with the surveillance camera footage and stole Kiladjian's car, a black Jeep Wrangler. Police suspect the thieves used the Jeep as the getaway vehicle.
Police found the Jeep nearby Tuesday morning after receiving an anonymous tip that it had been abandoned near 2680 N. Canyon Road.
When the robbers left, Kiladjian said the female employee managed to free herself. She then grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the two men loose.
Kiladjian said that once free, his father, who was visiting from Los Angeles, suffered a panic attack that nearly turned into a heart attack.
"I thought I was going to lose him," he said. "I was on the verge of losing my father. It was something I never want to go through again."
However, he said, the robbery won't be enough to stop the small business. They were insured, and he said they hope to reopen again Monday morning.
"We're like a family," he said. "We all support one another. We're all in this together. You can replace jewelry. You can replace the car. But you cannot replace a human being. You cannot replace life."
Police described the robbers as each being 5-foot-10, in their mid-30s, with "olive skin" and prominent noses. Police said the men spoke to each other in a language the employees did not recognize. One robber was wearing a black jacket and the other a red jacket, both described as "puffy" down-style coats.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Provo police Detective Nick Kogianes at 801-852-7258.
Bob Mims contributed to this report.