Man Consoles Grieving Widow, Then Steals Her Car

A man pretended to console a grieving Missouri widow before stealing her husband’s car. 

The woman’s husband died a few weeks earlier, KTVI reported. 

“She took his truck to go see him and bring him flowers,” Angie, the widow’s daughter, said. 

Angie said that an unidentified man approached her mother at the grave two times, in feigned attempts to console her. 

“[He] brought her a flower, said, ‘I’m so sorry,’ and, ‘I’ll let you grieve in peace,’ then went back to the grave he was pretending to visit,” Angie said. 

As her mother turned away, the man jumped into her late husband’s Chevy Silverado. He reportedly drove over other people’s graves as he escaped. 

The truck contained the woman’s laptop, credit cards, purse, ID and several important documents. 

“Mom drives that car [and] she feels him there. It smells like him still. She wants it back,” Angie said.

The story soon sparked outrage across the Internet. 

“It takes a “special” kind of thief to prey on a grieving woman at a cemetery,” Amanda Shea wrote for Mad World News. “This thief will get a heaping dose of karma for what he did, which could cost him his life since he stole what a dead man left behind.”

This incident was not the first time someone stole from a widow, The Washington Post reported. 

A 25-year-old Virginia man was accused of stealing donations for the widow and children of 37-year-old Virginia State Trooper Chad P. Dermyer. 

Dermyer was shot and killed while on duty just a few weeks prior to the theft. The community subsequently held a fundraiser for his family.

Tyree Burrell attempted to steal the fruits of that charity, and was ultimately arrested and charged with petty larceny.

“Unbelievable that someone would steal from a widow and her kids, great job catching him,” C. Kaye Zens wrote on social media.

“Stealing from a dead cops family . . . Now that’s just wrong. Throw the book at em boys!” Eames Coleman added. 

Sources: KTVI, Mad World News, The Washington Post / Photo credit: Matt H. Wade/Wikimedia Commons