Cape Coral organization steps up to help elderly crime victim

For the past 20 years ago Sibyl Lou Francis Broderick has become quite a fixture in Southeast Cape Coral.

Known by many of the local business owners along Del Prado Boulevard for her stylish hats, at 91 years old “Frannie” has become quite the celebrity in her neighborhood. Living a lifestyle of someone half her age, she says it was not always that way.

Frannie moved to Cape Coral with her husband Joe in 1993. On October 18, 1998, her life changed forever when Joe passed away after a long illness. Frannie says when Joe passed away she did not know how to do much around the house. Daughter, Kitty and son-in-law Tim stepped in and helped her learn how to take care of the different things Joe had done for years.

Since that time, 13 years ago, Frannie has become the poster child of independent living.

Today, Frannie lives every day to the fullest with playing cards, visiting with her children, watching television, and even getting behind the wheel of her car and driving to the local grocery store and perusing the second hand stores that line Del Prado Boulevard, never leaving home without wearing one of her trademark hats.

Earlier this year, Frannie awoke feeling an uncomfortable feeling in her chest. Even, though, she was hesitant, Frannie decided to drive herself to the doctor. There, the medical staff ran tests and immediately sent her to the hospital. The doctors discovered Frannie was suffering from congestive heart failure and said if she had not gone to the doctor that day, she would have likely not made it through the day..

The next morning Frannie sent Kitty and Tim back to her home to collect some personal items. What Kitty and Tim discovered when they arrived at home was unthinkable. Noticing the bedroom light was on, the couple entered the home cautiously. When they went in the master bedroom, they noticed items scattered all over the floor. The couple, hoping for the best, thought maybe Frannie had left things stacked, and they had fallen, “That wasn’t it,” Kitty states. “They had gone through everything.”

What Kitty and Tim had discovered, that while Frannie lay in a hospital bed not knowing if she was going to make it or not, someone had broken into her house. The burglar had split the screen on the back door, pried open the sliding glass doors and proceeded to steal many priceless and irreplaceable items, “They stole my dad’s medals. They even ripped the medals from the ribbons and left the ribbons on the floor,” says Frannie’s daughter Theresa King, who had flown in from Akron, Ohio to be with her mother. “They took jewelry, her cameos, and even some of her clothes. It is unbelievable what they did.”

“My dad had bought my mom a necklace from the Franklin Mint for every season and every holiday and that is all missing,” added Kitty.

Frannie spent four days in the hospital recovering from surgery. Unlike most people who come home from the hospital and take it easy, Frannie had to come home and begin going through her belongings to find what was missing, “It was a heart wrenching experience for her. Going through her things and realizing the items that were missing left her in tears,” says Theresa.

During this time, the family filed a report with the Cape Coral Police Department who began their investigation and within a relatively short time had a suspect in custody. It ends up the suspect also lived in the same neighborhood, and has been tied to numerous burglaries in the area, “They hit more than one house on the street. They knocked on doors. If someone answered they asked for a bogus name and moved on. If there was no answer, they hit the house. They were caught walking down the street with a ladder. He walked around a corner and started taking screens out of a house. When they asked him what he was doing, he said he had a job at that house. Nobody was living in the house,” explained Tim.

While the suspect was in custody, he admitted to breaking in Frannie’s house, but to this day refuses to divulge the whereabouts of her property.

As Frannie continued the pain staking process of going through all of her belongings and figuring out what was taken, she also had to deal with the physical aftermath the burglars had left in their wake. Due to the forcible entry into her house, Frannie now lived in a home that did not allow the security many take for granted. The home now had a screen door that was torn and need replaced, as well as the security bolts on the sliding glass doors broken beyond repair, making it susceptible to another unwelcomed intruder. The family feared for her safety. After reporting the incident to her insurance company, the family was informed that her home owner's insurance policy carried a $2,500 deductible. They were also told if she filed a claim she would be dropped from her coverage.