BYRON, Ga. — A New York woman says she came to Central Georgia for an art show, but now, she'll be leaving with a police report. She says what the thieves left behind was no work of art.
For years, Nancy Sutton called her camper home.
"I put my heart and soul in this camper, I loved it and it didn't even have 39,000 miles on it, and now it’s just totally destroyed,” she said.
She returned to Fort Valley for an art show and to catch up with friends, not knowing her camper would be stolen and vandalized and she'd be left to rummage through what's left.
"I was parked at my friend’s house where I had lived in the motorhome for two-and-a-half years previous to moving back to New York, and we were doing some projects around the yard, we were going to do a little woodworking project,” she recalled.
She says not even 30 minutes after leaving to go across the street, she got a call from an unfamiliar number.
"I picked it up and they said, ‘This is the Fort Valley Police. Do you own a camper?’ and I said, ‘Yes’, and they said, ‘Well, it’s been stolen and wrecked,’ I said, ‘No, it hasn't because I was just there,’ and she said, ‘Well, ma'am, you better check,’ and so I walked across the street and sure enough, my camper was gone,” she explained.
She believes someone may have been watching her and it may have been stolen by juveniles.
"I had a Hershey's cocoa can and they threw that all over the place. There's pancake mix, they threw that all over the place, water all over the place,” Sutton said.
She says the thieves took her wallet and personal and sentimental items, and the jewelry she intended to sell was also damaged.
As Sutton prepares to make her way back home, she has this to say to whoever stole her camper, "If they're watching this, I want them to know what a horrible thing they've done. I hope they're not proud of it and I hope they don't think it’s funny, because it’s not.”
She also says she will still participate in the Triangle Arts Market show on Sunday in Macon. Chief Inspector Tellas Daniel with Fort Valley Police says they have arrested several juveniles for auto theft over the last couple of months.