LAWRENCE — Patricia Ferguson visits Immaculate Conception Cemetery on Barker Street twice a day to pray at the grave of her mother, who died July 5 of last year.
She was there Monday when she said a woman asked her for directions and then stole her pocketbook from her parked car.
According to police, Ferguson, 65, is one of four victims of purse thefts in Lawrence cemeteries since Oct. 12. Methuen police also are investigating a purse theft from a car at Elmwood Cemetery on North Lowell Street about 11:32 a.m. Monday.
Ferguson said it was bad enough to have her purse stolen, but when it was in a sacred place like a cemetery "it's really bad."
She said she goes to the cemetery after the 7 a.m. Mass at St. Monica's Church in Methuen and returns each afternoon.
"I don't go at night. I feel safer during the day, but I guess you are not safe at any time of the day," Ferguson said yesterday.
Police Monday night arrested Jennifer Follis, 30, of 43 Center St., Methuen, at Lazarus House on Daisy Street after Ferguson picked her image out of a photo array and identified her as the woman who approached her in the cemetery and took her purse.
"I don't resent the girl," Ferguson said. "I feel sorry for her."
Lawrence police Chief John Romero said that as of yesterday, Follis was only a suspect in the Ferguson theft. In fact, another purse theft from a car occurred yesterday at Immaculate Conception Cemetery — a day after Follis was arrested and while she was in custody.
Romero said his department is reaching out to other departments to determine if there have been similar thefts in their communities. "Obviosuly it appears there is more than one person doing this and they could be working together," Romero said.
The other purse thefts in Lawrence were on Oct. 12 and Oct. 15.
In the Oct. 12 theft, Charilyn Rodriguez, 31, of Methuen told police she was visiting Immaculate Conception Cemetery and saw a car pulling up, but did not pay attention to it.
When she returned to her car, she found the passenger side door open and her purse was gone.
In the Oct. 15 theft, Marylynn Bousquet, 66, of Methuen, told police she was visiting her husband's grave in Bellevue Cemetery, and had locked her car doors. She said a car with a woman pulled up and the woman got out and asked her to move her car so she could find a grave.
She told police she used her remote to unlock the doors, and the woman, who was standing on the passenger side, opened the door and took her purse from the passenger seat. The woman then got into her car and drove off, police said.
Methuen police Capt. Thomas Fram said yesterday that Methuen detectives are working with Lawrence police to determine whether Follis was involved with a purse theft in Elmwood Cemetery late Monday morning.
In that theft, a 74-year-old Methuen woman told Officer Nick Dore her car had been broken into while she was at Elmwood Cemetery visiting her husband's grave. She told Dore she goes there once a week and lights a candle at the grave.She told Dore she parked the car and locked it and carried the candle to the grave before she realized she did not have a lighter and returned to her car only to find she did not have a lighter in the car.
It was then a woman drove by and Dore asked the woman if she had a lighter she could borrow.
The woman handed her a lighter and said she would pull over and wait for her to return the lighter.
The victim told police she left for a minute or two to light the candle, and when she returned the woman had left and her purse was missing.
She told police the theft happened about 11 a.m., and she drove to the Methuen Senior Center where they advised her to call police.
"People go to cemeteries to pay their respects," Romero said yesterday. "They are distracted with what they are doing. A cemetery is a place of comfort."
He said it was unfortunate that even in a cemetery people need to be alert.
As of yesterday, Ferguson's pocketbook was not recovered. It contained prayer books, rosary beads that belonged to her mother, $45 cash, her driver's license and two credit cards.
She described the bag as a large, black patent leather pocketbook with a single strap.
"If people are aware of this now, perhaps they will be extra careful in the cemetery," Ferguson said.
