DAWSON COUNTY, Ga. — Sheriff’s investigators are searching for an extended Chevrolet van that was stolen from behind the Bearden Funeral Home in Dawsonville during a memorial service Wednesday afternoon.
The van is used to take flowers from the chapel to the cemetery following services.
Shortly after a funeral began Wednesday, a man snuck behind the building, jumped in the van and drove off.
"Once we went to use it, we discovered it had been taken. This is the first time we have ever had something like this happen. Someone decided they needed the van worse than we did," funeral home owner Ted Bearden said.
Bearden, who is also the Dawson County coroner, told Channel 2's Tom Regan the van is a white 2006 Chevrolet 3500 extended van.
He said following the service, investigators questioned several mourners who saw a suspicious man in the parking lot before the theft.
"Some family members had seen him and one of our employees had seen him. He had a backpack, a white T-shirt and tattoos on his arms," Bearden said.
People shopping at a supermarket across the street from the funeral home said the crime was sad and desperate.
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"During a funeral? That's terrible," Matthew Chamblee said.
Another resident said the theft showed total disrespect for grieving family members, relatives and friends attending the service.
"It's really disturbing for this community for someone to do something like that," Ashley Black said.
The Dawson County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information about the theft to contact investigators.
Cox Media Group
