Jordyn Huitema’s harrowing burglary experience – Equalizer Soccer

Credit: Melissa Levin-Imagn Images

Seattle Reign attacker Jordyn Huitema was home alone last May when multiple burglars entered the home where she was staying, as she recently described to Susie Rantz at Sounder at Heart.

“It was the scariest night of my life,” Huitema told Rantz. “I just wanted to survive.”

On the evening of May 1, the day before a game against the Kansas City Current, Huitema was at the home of her boyfriend, Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez. She heard a noise downstairs, but the home’s security system was not triggered. Huitema deadbolted the bedroom door and hid in the innermost room of the bathroom suite, while turning off a motion-activated light. The burglars entered the bathroom, but never attempted to enter the room where Huitema was hiding.

The deactivation of the automatic light “likely saved her from being discovered,” Reign security director Carma Clark told Rantz.

“They were right on the other side of the wall,” Huitema said. Huitema’s initial call to 911 did not connect, and she had to wait several seconds before she was able to get through.

The incident was part of a series of targeted burglaries of high-profile Seattle athletes throughout the winter and spring of 2025. The Seattle Times reported last week that Earl Riley, a 21-year-old man who had been sentenced to a “mental health sentencing alternative” for three counts of robbery back in February, had been arrested and charged with four counts of residential burglary and one count of first-degree robbery. Riley is alleged to have worked with an accomplice who has not been publicly identified.

Huitema played in the Reign’s match against the Current the next day, providing the game-winning assist. Though she had spoken with Reign head coach Laura Harvey and the Reign security staff, Huitema had not informed her teammates what had happened until the after the game’s conclusion.

“While it takes time, and effort, and a good support system—it does get better,” Huitema told Rantz about her mental health journey in the six weeks since the incident. “At the end of the day, material things don’t matter. You’re alive. That’s what matters.”