87-year-old 'hurt, disgusted' after vandals ransack home

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — An 87-year-old man says he is heartbroken after burglars trashed and ransacked his family's Stone Mountain home.

Though nothing of value was taken, the burglars caused thousands of dollars in damage.

Floyd Thompson and his daughter Judy Parker told Channel 2's Diana Davis the crime has broken the family's spirit.

"I'm really thinking it was a group of kids and maybe a gang initiation. I don't know. Or maybe they were just bored," Parker told Davis.

From the living room to the bedrooms, furniture was smashed; upholstery slit open and drawers dumped. The burglars urinated and defecated in several rooms.

Thompson, who is paralyzed, and in a wheelchair, got back home Sunday night after a few days away visiting his children. When he saw the mess, he couldn't believe his eyes. His emotions have run the gamut in the last few days.

"Angry, hurt, disgusted," Floyd described about what he was feeling.

"It's just so heartbreaking what they have done," added his daughter.

Thompson built the house himself back in the 1950s. He raised six children in the small ranch home with his wife. She died 12 years ago, after nearly 60 years of marriage. His oldest daughter said it has broken the family's heart.

"It's not a house. It's not furniture. It's dreams and memories of what he and my mother built together," Parker said.

Only a couple of old hunting rifles and a small amount of cash were taken. Thompson lives on about $600 a month from Social Security and didn't have much to steal, Davis said. Thompson said he has insurance, but he is unsure if the policy will cover all of the damage.

Both Thompson and his daughter believe it was probably local kids behind the crime.

They both have an idea of what the proper punishment should be if they are caught.

"If I could find them right now I would make them come in and redo this house," Parker said.

DeKalb police told Davis another house down the street was broken into sometime last Thursday at about the same time the Thompson's house was trashed.

Parker and her father said if the vandals do turn out to be kids, they hope someone will turn them in before they do something worse.

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WSBTV