Women Stealing Gravesite Flowers At Elsinore Valley Cemetery: Official

LAKE ELSINORE, CA — On two separate dates in December, two women were caught on surveillance video allegedly stealing flowers from gravesites at Elsinore Valley Cemetery — and officials want an end to the thievery.

Images taken from the video are fuzzy, but the pilfering appears strategic. In each instance, the women drove to the cemetery in a small dark car, parked on the facility's many meandering drives, and targeted gravesites with the most beautiful and largest floral arrangments. The bouquets were removed from headstones and put in the car's trunk, according to EVC District Manager Stephanie Garcia.

The alleged thefts occurred on Dec. 5 and Dec. 14 around 9:30 a.m. In both incidents, a cemetery groundskeeper tried to intervene but the women made off with the flowers left by loved ones of those buried on the grounds, Garcia said.

"This is supposed to be a place of serenity," Garcia said. "This shouldn't happen."

Based on information shared by the cemetery groundskeeper, Garcia believes the women to be Hispanic. One has blonde hair and is likely middle-aged, while the other has brown hair and is thought to be 30 to 35 years old, Garcia shared.

The surveillance video was being shared with Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Garcia said. Anyone with information about the alleged thefts can call the department at 951-776-1099.

EVC at 18170 Collier Avenue is hallowed grounds for many. Its official history dates back to the late 1800s. An online burial search finds an 1876 interment — 45-year-old Emma A. Rand. Just two years after her death, Lake Elsinore became an incorporated city.

According to cemetery records, Rand was likely one of eight pioneers disinterred from a graveyard known and the “old cemetery” on Minthorn Street and moved to what is now Elsinore Valley Cemetery.

The recent alleged thefts may not seem like much in terms of dollar value, but the losses are very personal for loved ones who visit those interred at EVC.

"It's very sad," Garcia said. "I hope [the women] are found."