A Hurst woman isn’t sitting idly by after someone stole her purse, instead she has turned to social media to see if anyone can help crack the case.
Estreitta de Kluetz owns Starlite Vintiqs, an antiques booth, a Mid-Cities Antique Mall on West Pipeline Road in Hurst.
Thursday, July 1, 2015, de Kluetz was working with her assistant when someone stole her purse from a nearby cart.
De Kluetz reviewed surveillance video captured from cameras around the store, and said it shows a woman she greeted minutes before taking the purse.
“I had said, 'Hi,' to her earlier, and said, 'How you doing today?' like I do to most customers I see,” de Kluetz said. “Little did I know that a few minutes later she would be taking my purse and walking out the door.”
The Hurst Police Department is investigating the theft, although they tell NBC 5 they don’t have the surveillance video yet, and for that reason, cannot confirm a suspect at this point.
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De Kluetz isn’t solely relying on police to track down the thief, she has taken to social media posting photos of the surveillance video on sites like Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor and even Craigslist.
“It was like a violation of my trust,” de Kluetz said. “I’m a very open person, I’m very trusting, I guess to my detriment because this would’t have happened otherwise.”
De Kluetz hopes someone will recognize the woman she believes snatched her purse, and call Hurst police.
“There are a lot of bad things people say about social media, but we can use it to our benefit to help get the word out and let people know that we’re not going to stand back and let people just take stuff from us.”
She tells NBC 5 she got the idea to take to social media after seeing a similar case solved.
“I had seen a story earlier this year online about how an individual had done the same thing and the person returned the purse and returned money they spent with a note that said 'I’m sorry I stole your purse I hope this can make it up,'” de Kluetz said.
De Kluetz says she’s not angry, but does want the thief caught.
“I forgive that person,” de Kluetz said. “They must be going through a lot of things to come into an antique mall and want to steal a purse because they need something or the temptation was there and they took it.”
Anyone with information should call Hurst Police Criminal Investigations Section at 817-788-7166.
