Diane Vespa reports that $13,000 is believed to have been stolen by a new employee who is also missing.
According to the letter, a police report has been filed and an investigation is underway. The Historical Society fears they may not be able to recoup the majority of these funds. In the interim, they have changed locks, passwords and security codes and cancelled credit cards and accounts and filed claims.
They may not get the money, but hopefully they’ll get the person who stole it and put him or her behind bars for a few years. Why would someone steal from the historical society? What an idiot.
UPDATE: Comments have been turned off. Please go to Diane’s blog to comment since she’s the one who broke the story. Thanks.
Why WOULDN’T someone steal from the historical society? People steal from schools, churches, hospitals, charities, not to mention their family members. Of course, people also steal from banks, credit unions, insurance companies, the government … you know, the people who deserve to get ripped off.
And I’d bet my last dollar that we will discover that this person has a gambling problem.
Money is money…and this case, it might be history.
Would this be an ongoing criminal investigation? Was permission given to publish said letter? Just wondering.
I don’t know Granny. From my experience, information is withheld during serious murders/violent crimes, or when a minor is involved. Police seem to hold back info when they think it might compromise a citizen’s right to privacy or an ongoing investigation. Illinois statue allows from many reasons. Maybe they also do it to be jerks. 🙂
They would withhold information of an ongoing investigation to be jerks?
Oh, and just FYI, I am not ‘Granny’, it’s more like “maamah”, but k/n/a ‘H.O.’ these days. 🙂
It was more of a joke…stemming from potential rifts between police and the news media. My apologies “Maamah”. 🙂
I do believe the police withhold certain information that may be critical to the case, but they also do not trust the media, often with good reason. The Journal Star is famous for publishing partial truths to put a certain slant on a story. Didn’t Don Fites stop allowing PJS to attend conferences etc. because of this reason?
At the risk of being threatened with yet another bogus lawsuit from the ‘volunteer’ who received the letter from the Peoria Historical Society, I shall remain anonymous. However, my belief is that if they intended this information to be public, they would have alerted the media, or the police would have done so.
Private emails/letters are no longer private?
Well, it’s public now. And yes, the news media will be reporting it. This could help them catch the person, or maybe help raise money to recoup the cash. Police don’t report every theft to the media-mainly strings of crimes or serious crimes such as murder.
I’ve personally never had any problems in my dealings with anyone from the PJStar. Those whom I have dealt with have always been professional and have journalistic integrity. And I doubt the reporters who cover any dealings with the SA’s office or the PPD would do anything to bite the hand that feeds them, so to speak. Just my .02.
PHS Member 2 — If the PHS wanted the information to remain confidential, or if any of that information was part of an ongoing criminal investigation, they shouldn’t have mailed it out to their entire membership base.
I’m going to turn off comments on this post now. If you have any further comments, make them at Diane’s blog; she broke the story.