Family Of Elderly Woman Attacked In Kaufman County Believe Arrest Will Help Her Recovery
KAUFMAN COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) — The family of the elderly woman brutally attacked in her Kaufman County home last month believe that an arrest in the case will help with the victim's recovery.
Her daughter, Carla Cullum, said they are "God-fearing people with a lot of faith."
"We know God has been with us through this difficult time, and has been with my mom," Cullum said.
She said her 78-year-old mother is still fighting to survive, weeks after the suspect held her at gunpoint, tied her to a chair and then set her home on fire.
"She's lost everything," Cullum said. "She's lost the contents of her home, and she's lost her security."
Her mother — known to many in the community as 'Sweet Peggy' — was heading off to work on the morning of Oct. 15 with her purse, coffee and lunch when she was confronted at the front door by a woman in a black hooded jacket.
Cullum said her 95 pound mother was dragged back into the house and tied up with cords from her own appliances, and could hear the suspect rummaging through her belongings before using a kitchen towel to start a fire on the cooktop.
"She cannot talk about it without crying and having nightmares," Cullum shared. "Something as simple as holding her hand and checking her blood sugar, she would scream out, 'Don't tie me down.'"
Investigators have released a sketch of the suspect: a heavy set woman with strawberry hair, wearing gold rimmed glasses.
"She needs to be stopped," Cullum said. "I feel like if she thinks she got away with it this time, she'll just go hurt someone else and I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."
She continued by saying the suspect is not only cruel, but also bold — answering her mother's phone during the attack.
"When she didn't show up for work, a lady answered and said she was ill and at the clinic, and hung up on us," her colleagues told Cullum.
Now, the family is pleading with the community to take a second look at the suspect sketch to help investigators find her.
"I want her caught before she hurts someone else, and I believe she will," Cullum said. "If she can do something brutal to a 78-year-old woman that's 95 pounds, then she will hurt anybody."
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Kaufman County Sheriff's Department.