ROUNDUP — Funerals can be an emotional and stressful event for anyone who attends.
But for the Snortland family, those emotions quickly turned to anger when hundreds of dollars were stolen from them at the St. Benedict Catholic Church in Roundup.
It took place at Eric Snortland's funeral. His mother, Irene Snortland, and his sister, Dianne Braggs, tell the story.
"We were mad. We were disturbed," said Dianne.
"How could anybody go so low, to steal from a person that's gone," Irene said.
It's something you would never think about, those condolence cards at a funeral, left by attendees.
But for the Snortland family, those donations and letters were stolen.
"However they did this, they opened it, maybe steamed it, and then they glued it shut. Whoever did this, they possibly have done this before because of how it was done," Dianne said.
Irene and Dianne were already going through the unimaginable. Dianne had lost her younger brother, a U.S. Army veteran unfortunately struggling with PTSD.
"It is so disturbing that someone would do this, and dishonor him this way," says Dianne.
During the funeral, mourners left cards and money in a collection bin at the church. The family then proceeded to the cemetery to bury Eric. When it was time to collect those donations, the cards were gone.
The cards were returned 24 hours later, without the money inside.
"We'd like to let people know what this has happened, that if someone else has a funeral that they make sure the family gets those cards and money immediately," Irene said.
As the Snortland family is recovering from grief, they have decided not to file a police report. They said they just want to put this behind them.
"So, it was really hard and then to put something like this on top of it is," Dianne said.
