Cherokee County Family Returns From Funeral To Find Home Burglarized

Burglars cleaned out just about everything a Cherokee County couple owns.

You name it, thieves took it -- everything from jewelry and guns to clothing, even light bulbs.

How the victims think the thieves picked their house to target will make you cringe.

Like most all burglary victims, Jay and Tammy Cook feel violated and frustrated.

"I'm not as mad, but I'm pretty ticked," Jay Cook said.

Burglars broke into their rural home north of Tahlequah a week ago, taking jewelry, video game systems, even their son's Legos and more.

"We work all the time, both of us have, all our lives,” Tammy Cook said. “We've always had more than one job, trying to provide for our kids, and then you walk in and someone has taken everything in one swoop."

The thieves also took six guns --Two .22-caliber rifles, a .22 Ruger-style handgun, .357-magnum Rossi handgun and two rifles, including a 30/30 with a scope.

"I think they ought to string them up in the town square,” Tammy Cook said. “Public flogging."

When the Cooks say burglars just about cleaned them out, they mean the thieves nearly took everything they own. A Fender stratocaster guitar, an amplifier, even a Naval telescope from the 1940s.

The thieves even took their clothes, shoes and winter coats.

The Cook home is in a very remote location, so they think the thieves had to know its location and knew the couple isn't always home. They both work as caregivers for adults with disabilities.

They think the thieves that burglarized their home must have watched the obituaries and knew they would be at the funeral for a man they took care of for more than 20 years.

"They'll know we're not home, that thought never crossed my mind,” Cook said. “But apparently that's how somebody shops."

This isn't the first time their home has been burglarized.

"This is the third time these lowlifes have done this."

But this one seems like the hardest, leaving them with most of their belongings gone, and wondering why such a bad thing would happen to people who do such good for others.

"I would really, really like to find who did this," Jay Cook said.

Anyone with information that could help investigators should call the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office at 918-456-2583.