MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Police say a woman’s vehicle was broken into while she was attending a loved one’s funeral Friday morning.
According to Memphis Police, the woman was attending a funeral service at Forest Hill East Funeral Home on Whitten Road Friday morning before nine.
Her grieving was interrupted when she received a text alert from her bank notifying her of a transaction that was just made at the Target store near Highway 64 and Germantown Parkway.
Police say while she was at the funeral, a suspect broke into her SUV that was parked in the funeral home parking lot and stole her purse. The suspect got away with cash as well as credit and debit cards.
According to police, less than two hours later, the suspect used the victim’s credit card to buy $500 in gift cards from a nearby Target. Police say the suspect was dropped off at the entrance of the Target by someone driving a silver or gray four-door sedan.
Sunday morning, Memphis Police released pictures of the suspect and the car he was riding in.
WREG reached out to Forest Hill East Funeral Home and Memorial Park for a comment. In part, the Senior VP of Sales and Marketing said:
“The family acknowledged that the wallets may not have been stolen while they were here, but just that the transaction was made while they were here. This seems to be an unfortunate situation though I think the only tie to our funeral home is that the person was there when the transaction was made.”
The company also expressed hopes that those responsible would be apprehended.
WREG spoke to the victim’s husband who didn’t want to go on camera, but disputed the cemetery’s statement and claims the theft did happen while the family was at the funeral home.
The police report stated there was no crime scene at Forest Hill East, no fingerprints or sign of forced entry into the victim’s vehicle and no surveillance video was available.
Police say no arrests have been made at this time. If you have any information, you are urged to call Crime Stoppers at (901) 528-CASH.