ELKRIDGE, Md. — Every time a Howard County family goes to pay respect to their loved ones, they are going to be thinking about the time they got robbed.
Howard County Police said 4 people have had things stolen from their cars at the Meadowridge Memorial Cemetery since Monday.
Millie Lang was the latest victim as she and her cousins were making preparations for her aunts burial on Monday.
“They took a lot from people and they put that fear in people at a cemetery that was unnecessary,” Millie Lange said.
It’s not even the blatant disregard for decency that comes with robbing people while they are at a cemetery that bothers the family the most.
They have to come back to the cemetery because they have several family members buried there and now every time they come here, they’ll be looking over their shoulder.
“Who would’ve thought at a cemetery? I never would have thought in a million years that anybody had been robbed and we have never heard up until now that anybody had been robbed.”
After wrapping up paperwork they went to their grandmother's grave site--which is close to where they parked.
When they turned back toward Lang’s SUV they saw two men stealing her work laptop, which is crucial to along with all the papers for their aunt including deeds.
“When they took off in their Dodge Charger my mom and her two cousins got back into the SUV to kind of chase after to see if they could see where they landed,” Millie’s daughter Faith said. “When they got far enough away and the cops made them stop so they could give a report that’s when the key fob lost its distance with the SUV and my mom’s car shut down because there was no way to drive it anymore.”
Police say this is the 4th car theft at the cemetery in two days, along with another car theft in nearby parking lot.
They're encouraging people to lock their doors and say they will increase patrols.
Millie buried her aunt at the cemetery today, and Faith said they didn’t notice an increase in security.
The family is upset that they haven't seen any security and that there are no cameras coming in or out.
“We just heard that they stepped up security and they did this and that,” said Faith. “We were there today and there was no security that we saw. Maybe they are working on it but as of now there’s nothing and it’s been two days.”
One thing that's giving Millie a little relief came in form of an early morning text message from a night manager at a Walmart in DC.
“His name was George Jones and he found the paperwork in a parking garage and he was an angel. I feel like we lost our faith that day. He brought that paper and I know it sounds silly it’s just paperwork, but to us it was so much more than that.”
This family and all the families that have become victims here want the people responsible to get caught. If you know or heard anything about these Cemetery robberies call Howard County Police at 410-313-2200.
