Woman’s Home Burglarized ... Two Days After Her Death

By Jeff Raasch and Addison Speck, Reporters

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By Aaron Hepker

Story Created: Feb 2, 2012 at 4:17 PM CDT

Story Updated: Feb 2, 2012 at 6:58 PM CDT

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -Just two days after an elderly Cedar Rapids woman passed away, someone burglarized her home.

On Thursday, her family found out about the break-in, just a few hours after her funeral. Harriet Feldmann, 76, passed away on Monday from a brief illness.

“She enjoyed painting and playing the piano. That was her life ... and church. She wasn’t a healthy lady, but she never bothered anybody,” Nicholas Rieger, Feldmann’s brother said.

Either hours before, or maybe even during her funeral Thursday morning, someone broke into her empty home. Police said it was sometime between 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday and 10:30 a.m. on Thursday.

“Well we had a nice funeral service and we were just sitting at the restaurant eating and Kathy got a call saying the house had been ransacked, which just put more on us,” Rieger said.

Family members went to clean out the house on Thursday, and also had to clean up the mess.

“They emptied out the drawers, turned over the furniture, looks like they may have taken her purse and anything valuable out of the house,” Rieger added. “It’s really sad that people take this opportunity to benefit themselves.”

Some neighbors and family members suspect that this wasn’t a weird coincidence.

“It had to have been just somebody that was in the neighborhood that knew it and had to of taken advantage of the situation,” Chase Mead, a neighbor, said.

Mead said his girlfriend called police after they notice a door was open on Feldmann’s house.

“I just don’t understand how somebody would have enough nerve to do that to somebody that is no longer here,” he added. “It’s just kids up and down the block all summer long, it’s really a good neighborhood. It’s the first time anything like this has happened and it’s horrible.”

No arrests have been made in the case. Neighbors say they plan to keep watch over the house until it’s no longer vacant.

Family members said they appreciate neighbors and police who watched over Feldmann while she lived on her own.

Anyone with information about either crime is asked to call police at (319) 286-5491 or Linn County CrimeStoppers at 1-800-CS-CRIME.

Next Article Search for Missing Man in Cedar River Will Resume Monday

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