A house of worship is probably the last place you would expect a theft going down but it was at The Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help that authorities and the congregation found out recently that not even a church is immune to thieves.
This is a special place, and not just for the Town of Green Bay, but on a national scale too.
"This is the only place in the United States that the Blessed Virgin appeared that is recognized," says Dale Davister a parishioner of The Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help. Davister has been coming here for years with family and friends and says since the national acknowledgement traffic from out-of-towners has increased on a huge scale.
But it was what was seen at a Wednesday Mass on March 30th, by only a surveillance video camera that has the congregation talking.
"A lady was at mass and she went up to receive Holy Communion while leaving her purse in her pew and apparently someone grabbed her wallet," says Father Peter Stryker.
And today authorities believe two people shown in the surveillance video may know who the woman believed to have stolen the wallet is.
"I don't believe they're involved. They probably don't have knowledge that this occurred. But it appears that they were with the suspect," says Sgt. Rick Loppnow of the Brown County Sheriff’s Office.
And whether or not this changes how you protect your possessions in places like this, parishioners hope that whoever the person is that stole the wallet doesn’t deter the masses from continuing to come out.
"I’m hoping that maybe the person needed it that bad, that maybe it would help them. But it's the wrong way to go about it," adds Davister.
Today this one of a kind church will continue to be known for what it can offer and not what one person managed to take.
Congregation members NBC26 spoke with today hope that what happened here doesn't shed a bad light on the parish. Several of them adding that if you need you’re in the right place, to simply ask.
The Brown County Sheriff’s office hopes you give them a call if you recognize the woman or the other two people shown in the surveillance video. We’ve included their tip line number below where you can reach out to authorities.
Sgt. Loppnow-920-448-6188
Anonymous tips can be left at 920-432-7867
