Widow's Car Stolen On Mother's Day While Visiting Husband's Grave

A widow’s car was stolen while she visited her late husband’s grave.

Donna Thomas says she took her eyes off her car for only a few minutes, but that was enough time for it to disappear from a Tulsa cemetery.

“My Mother’s Day was really good yesterday, until that moment,” said Thomas.  “I’ll forgive them, but you reap what you sow.”

Thomas was at Memorial Park Cemetery on Sunday afternoon.  She’d gone to pay tribute to her late husband when she noticed a white truck drive by.  The vehicle struck her as odd, but not necessarily suspicious, so she walked over to meet her son-in-law, who was also visiting graves.

She says, “I’d left my car running because it was hot.  When I turned around, my kids came up and go, ‘where’s your car?’”

“It was gone.  Her car was gone,” said son-in-law Mike Leitch.  “How dare you come into a cemetery and victimize people.  Not just my elderly mother-in-law, but anybody.”

“They stole my car with my cell phone, with my purse and everything in it,” stated Thomas.  “I want them to know that they stole from a widow of a vet on Mother’s Day.”

They immediately called police.

Leitch says that “within 30 minutes they had already made it from Memorial Park to Tulsa Hills and were attempting charges at a couple of stores.”

Cemetery Director Ronnie Felts says this is a continuing problem because cemeteries are places people feel comfortable and won’t be far from their belongings for long.

“It’s just trying to be more secure with your car,” said Felts.  “Make sure it’s locked and make sure all those items are placed out of sight.”

Thomas wants the thieves caught and wants to warn others.  She hopes anyone who spots her vehicle will call police.

It is a brown Toyota Venza, tag number BHJ-734, and has a veteran’s sticker on the rear bumper.