Milton homes hit by funeral thieves

(Updated) Halton Police are warning about opportunistic thieves, breaking into homes during funerals. The homes being broken into are the homes of the people the funerals are being held for. And this is far from an isolated crime.

Police say they first picked up on this trend last week, after two break-ins in rural Milton on the 10th and the 11th. In both cases the victims were attending funerals at the time, and their names were listed in the obituaries so police do believe that the suspect is browsing obituaries looking for potential victims. They think these cases are related.

There was also a third break-in that happened in Milton, on February 6th. In that case the victim was also attending a funeral and their name listed in an obituary. Video surveillance captured a vehicle believed to be involved (above) in last week’s break-ins and it is described as a 2001-2005 Chevy Ventura or similar dark-coloured minivan. One suspect is believed to be female; the other suspect is believed to be male.

Detective Trevor Bradley gave some tips to keep your home safe. “if you have any neighbours that are close by your place if you’re out at a funeral, you obviously don’t want to be victimized, just let people know that you’re going to be out of the house and you need them to keep watch for you.”

“Other obvious things are keeping your doors locked, and windows locked as well.”

Toronto Police have also warned the public about this problem. They say thieves browse obituaries to find their victims.