Looters Repeatedly Ransack Home With Dead Stockton Senior Inside
STOCKTON (CBS13) - Stockton police say looters repeatedly ransacked the home of a 94-year-old woman after she died.
Neighbors we spoke to say they can't believe nobody noticed it happening.
The burglary, which happened two doors down from Nichole Chew, is scary enough, but the way it happened turns her stomach, she says.
"That's crazy and it's very disrespectful and very odd nobody knew about it," said Chew.
The 94-year-old woman lived alone in a quiet block of Bianchi Street. Her family lived outside the state, so nobody was around to find out that she had passed away.
"People around here just don't have any kind of heart," said Megan Nessen, a neighbor.
Nobody knew she died, except for those people who looted her home -- not once -- but several times, leading up to Christmas Eve, say police.
"People are really that messed up that they would just leave a dead lady there and just loot her house," said Mike Heckerman, a neighbor. "What kind of people would actually do that?"
Police were originally called to the home to investigate a report of a broken door. They described what they found inside as barbaric.
The senior's body wasn't disturbed, but her home was torn apart. It appears to police the looters apparently didn't notice or didn't care the late 94-year-old was still there.
"Man, this is Stockton, California. It's discouraging some of the people we have running around this town," said Ronnie Sellers, a neighbor.
Homicide detectives were called in, but so far, it appears she died of natural causes.
Detectives believe the woman was in the home for quite some time while heartless thieves helped themselves to her belongings.
Police are still waiting on autopsy results for an official cause of death. They urge anyone who witnessed the looting or saw anyone suspicious in the area to call them.
