It happened to my MIL when her brother was killed in Korea
No need to look. Latonia.
For decades, my family would talk about this and plan for it.
Oldest trick in the book. ALWAYS have a house sitter.
It shouldn’t, but it reminds me of a joke.
Game started in Superbowl. A guy up in a high seat sees a prime seat down low near the 50. He is curious and goes down and asks the old man why the seat is empty.
The old man says that seat was for my wife but she recently died. The guy says couldn’t you find a friend to take the seat. The old man says they’re all at her funeral.
“Latonia”.
Do I need to look?
Maybe it’s because I am from New York, but we always had someone stay at the house during weddings and funerals, someone from another faith shows a good friend but didn’t feel the need to attend, helping us in this way instead.
Very high rent neighborhood too.
Back in the day, newspapers stopped publishing the addresses of the deceased. But nowadays, it’s pretty easy to look up that info online.
In our family, someone always volunteered to stay in the family’s home, for safety sake.
Come to think of it, wakes used to be held in the family home. IIRC, the women used to sit in the living room with the deceased, whispering and gossiping ....and the men used to sit the kitchen, smoking and drinking a lot.
Never leave a copy of your proof of insurance and registration in the glove compartment (which many people do)
Typically you will have a garage door opener attached to your sun visor and if your car is stolen while shopping or at a soccer game or any other event, not only do they have your car but your address from the ID's and your garage opener to get into your garage and house.......
That’s an oldie. Effective, though.
planned for this when my dad passed. He had an extensive collection of toys, some rather valuable. And he was part of a large group of other like minded toy collectors, some of whom were rumored to be less than savory.
Happened to my family when my grandfather died.
Some one broke into his house while we were at the
funeral and took a trunk with family bible and other
memorabilia. Bible was huge, illustrated, and listed
all the family members going back over a hundred years.
Remember the scene in Harry Met Sally when Harry mentions using the obits to find an apartment in NYC?? “They mind as well combine the obituary with the real estate section”
That’s a given in our greater family group and friends.
One of the friends of the family volunteers to baby sit the house during visitation, the service and internment.
Wow. Brilliant.
One branch of the family was in the funeral biz for much of the 20th century, and this is a common thing. The MOST common funeral-related “item removals” happen through close acquaintances, friends, and other family members.
Many times the perp will actually be at the funeral, and have another person drop-in and remove the item(s) that were “promised” to them at some unknown time in the past. No one will recall it or remember last seeing it - the item just ‘disappeared’.
Not unheard of in the past to have a sheriff deputy posted at a house to keep out EVERYONE, NO EXCEPTIONS while a funeral was in progress.
The worst kinds of thieves are those that feel like they’re justified and ‘due’.
that happened to my great grandparents when their daughter died in 1905, so it’s been going on for a long time.
This is an old crime. The answer for it is for a member of the family who is either not too close to the deceased, a teen uncomfortable with wearing suits, etc., to act as a house sitter. I’ve done it a few times and was always grateful for being given a respectable way to dodge funerals.
Ghouls have been doing that coast to coast and border to border for generations.
Nothing new under the sun.