Grandmother Attacked In Her Lancaster Home
LANCASTER (CBS) - A stunned Eric Ross and his two distraught daughters returned to his house on Paine Street Wednesday evening, making their way through the crime scene tape that now surrounds the place.
They still find it all hard to believe.
"This is Lancaster!" says Kristin Ortiz. "This kind of stuff doesn't happen here."
But it did -- to her Mom.
WBZ-TV's Ken MacLeod reports
60-year-old Gina Ross had just put her grandson down for a mid-morning nap, when she was accosted in her garage by an intruder, who whacked her in the head with something several times.
Gina never got a good look at the guy because he attacked her from behind.
Her husband was out running a 20 minute errand, and when he returned, he found a bloodied, semi-conscious Gina lying on the garage floor.
After his 911 call summoned police and paramedics, Gina was better.
"She was conscious an alert," says Police Chief Kevin Lamb. "She was talking to us, but she had no idea what happened."
Apparently, no neighbors saw the intruder flee, and a police dog picked up no scent.
"We really don't have much to go on," laments the Chief.
When Gina regained her senses, the first thing she asked about was her sleeping grandson -- who is fine.
"She's really thankful to be alive," says daughter Kristin Ortiz. "It's just really hard to get your head around what happened here today."
Kristin describes her Mom as a very forgiving person, who can find good in just about anything.
Police surmise it was burglary gone bad -- just a random hit against a family with deep roots here.
"Well I've known them for at least 40 years," says Chief Lamb.
As Eric Ross gathered up some items to bring to his wife at the hospital Wednesday evening, the family acknowledged that nothing seemed to be missing from the house -- making answers even tougher to come by.
"This is a nightmare!" moans Ortiz. "It's an absolute nightmare!"
"No description, no leads, no nothin'," adds Chief Lamb.
Still, everyone is taking much comfort in knowing that Gina is on the mend.
She's at the U-Mass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, recovering from a concussion, some deep head cuts, and a badly bruised shoulder.
But her family hopes the hospital will release her sometime Thursday.
