NEWARK, Ohio — Newark police are trying to figure out who stole from a state senator's mother as she visited her husband's gravesite this past weekend.
Penny Hottinger visits the cemetery every day to honor her late husband. While she was there this past weekend, she says someone went into her car and stole her purse.
“My dad was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2019, and died after just about three months. It was very quick cancer,” said State Senator Jay Hottinger.
Hottinger's parents were married for nearly 61 years before his dad passed.
“Having been together that long, my mom continues to struggle. We think it's sweet that she goes and waters flowers and visits him there at his site,” Hottinger said.
A place where she felt safe and close to her love. She parks her car not far from the gravesite.
Over the weekend, she brought flowers and did not lock her car. She says that's when someone reached into her car and stole her purse.
“The fact that this happened, you just feel extra vulnerable and extra violated,” Hottinger said.
Keys, phone and wallet, all gone.
Relatives were able to track her cell phone down to the side of a road a few miles away. She had to have her car towed from the cemetery.
“I don't know if she was specifically targeted but I think that someone was at the cemetery with that goal in mind,” he said.
Hottinger says his 77 year-old mother is upset and frustrated, but adds it won't stop her from spending time with the love of her life. She will just take a few more precautions now.
“If a widow isn't safe visiting her husband's gravesite on a weekend, you are really vulnerable any place,” Hottinger said.
Newark police say so far they don't have any suspects.