By Adeola AdeosunShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA 76-year-old widow in Covina, California, about 22 miles east of Los Angeles, returned home from Thanksgiving dinner to find her house burglarized and her beloved dog fatally injured, according to local news station KTLA.
Newsweek reached out to the Covina Police Department via email on Saturday for comment.
Why It Matters
The incident highlights a disturbing trend of holiday-targeted burglaries when families are away from their homes.
According to 2022 research from Porch, approximately 83,000 burglaries occur during the December holiday period annually, accounting for 8.1 percent of all crimes committed throughout the year. While holiday burglaries occur at similar rates as other times of year, they tend to be costlier, with an average loss of $2,891 compared to $2,740 during non-holiday periods. Jewelry is approximately 10 percent more likely to be stolen during the holiday season than during other times of the year.
For homeowner Monica Lopez, who has relied on her dog Rocky as both companion and protector since her husband's death, the crime represents not just a property loss but the devastating loss of a family member.
What To Know
Lopez discovered the break-in after spending the Thanksgiving holiday with family, finding her bedroom ransacked and Rocky missing. The dog was later found near the home with severe head trauma after being struck by a car and did not survive. Thieves stole Lopez's wedding ring and several thousand dollars intended for her mortgage payment.
The burglary occurred between 3 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., according to Lopez and her daughter-in-law. Intruders entered through a broken window, leaving the side gate open as they fled. Lopez's first indication of the break-in was the open gate, followed by discovering her bedroom overturned with clothing scattered across the floor, drawers emptied, and glass shards from the broken window.
According to a GoFundMe page that was set up for Lopez, the burglars left through the back door gate, allowing Rocky to escape. The dog was subsequently struck by a car and died from severe brain damage. Lopez believes the dog may have been injured while attempting to chase the burglars away.
Lopez's daughter-in-law told KTLA that detectives are collecting fingerprint evidence from the scene in hopes of identifying the suspects. About a month before the burglary, someone banged on Lopez's window in the middle of the night before fleeing when they realized she was home. Family members believe this may have been the same perpetrators conducting surveillance.
What People Are Saying
Monica Lopez told KTLA: "I can't believe people would do something like that. He's another member of the family."
Lopez's daughter-in-law told KTLA: "It could be a coincidence, but I don't think so. I think it was the same man or woman who came back to finish whatever bad thing they were looking to do. I hope the police find these criminals."
GoFundMe organizer Arturo Lopez: "They broke into our elderly widow Mothers (76) home, and stole on Thanksgiving, including her December Mortgage payment which she is on fixed income & a 60-year-old + wedding ring among many other priceless items that are irreplaceable, then our dog was let out by the criminals via the back door gate which then caused him to be hit by a car and later pronounced dead due to severe brain damage. Please, if you can help raise/donate to help my mother to pay her mortgage, losses, my boy Rocky’s death, and fix her home."
What Happens Next?
Authorities continue gathering evidence and analyzing fingerprints collected from Lopez's home.
The GoFundMe campaign to help Lopez recover from the losses has raised $8,362 of its $10,000 goal as of Saturday afternoon.
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