89-year-old woman 'furious' man who stole her car at gunpoint in March hasn't been caught

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Jean Hilger had just finished loading her car with groceries at a busy Publix store near Vero Beach when a strange man approached her.

Hilger, an 89-year-old retiree, said the man told her he needed money to feed his children. It was about 11 a.m. March 5, a Monday, when the man climbed inside her white 2014 Chrysler sedan.

"He immediately got into my passenger side. He said, 'I'm not going to hurt you,'" she said.

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"Hurt me?" she remembered wondering. Hilger asked him if he had a gun, and he showed her a black pistol in his waistband.

The man demanded Hilger drive him to a Bank of America also in Ryanwood Square, a shopping center at the corner of 58th Avenue and State Road 60.

She did as she was told, but when she got to the bank, Hilger threw her purse out of her window, according to an Indian River County Sheriff's Office case report.

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She and the armed man both exited her car, attracting the attention of a man driving through the bank parking lot.

"This is my grandmother. She should not be driving," the armed man told the passerby.

The man then climbed into the driver's seat and fled.

"The person who saw the carjacking, he was very nice to help me," Hilger said. "He came to me and we both ran into the bank and told them to call the police."

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The bank briefly was placed on lockdown as deputies descended on the area. They found the car within two hours, unoccupied in a vacant lot near homes northwest of Target, which is directly across 58th Avenue from the bank.

But K-9 officers could not track down the suspect, described as a man in his late 30s or early 40s with short dark hair and nice teeth. He was described as either white or Middle Eastern, standing about 5 feet 9 inches tall, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Surveillance video from the bank was unclear and low quality, and the homes near where the car was discovered didn't have cameras. Residents didn't recognize the description of the suspect and nobody noticed anyone walking around the day of the crime, the Sheriff's Office said.

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Detectives canvassed the area for weeks, but nobody matching the description was located. The case was marked inactive in mid-April.

"I have my car back and everything's fine," Hilger said. "But I am furious, and I would love to hear this person has been caught. He might do it to someone else."

Hilger said she will always be grateful to the man who stopped to help her, with whom she exchanged phone numbers.

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"He called me one day just to see how I was doing," she said.

Hilger said now when she goes shopping or stops by the bank, she is extra cautious.

"When I'm going to get in my car, you can be sure I look around," she said.

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