Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church is seeking help identifying a woman who might be responsible for vandalizing it last month.
Emelia Joseph, parish coordinator for the church at 511 W. Washington St., said surveillance footage has revealed a woman who was in the sanctuary on Jan. 26, the day of the vandalism
The footage has been turned over to the Greenwood Police Department, and Joseph said she hopes this woman can be identified through published screenshots.
The morning after the damage was discovered, she noticed that First Baptist Church, located across the street from Immaculate Heart, had a camera with a view that included Immaculate Heart’s front door.
After viewing more than 20 hours of footage, Joseph saw an unidentified woman entering the church at 8:47 a.m. The front door was unlocked.
“My jaw dropped,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. After having watched it for all those hours and night had come and gone, I was starting to lose hope, but I kept the faith. I said, ‘Let me continue watching it.’”
She said the woman stayed inside the church for four hours and 21 minutes before leaving the building wearing one of the priest’s vestments and carrying what appeared to be a hymnal or Bible. “I couldn’t believe she was in there for that long,” she said.
Joseph said she told police what she had seen.
The vandalism was discovered by parishioners arriving for choir practice on Jan. 26.
Joseph said that the large altar at the front of the sanctuary had been toppled and a treasured statue of Mary, which is more than 100 years old, was knocked over and broken. A sanctuary candle was torn off a wall, and the baptismal font was broken. A painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe was punctured.
Joseph said she hopes the woman can be identified so she can receive help before possibly doing this to another church or perhaps a home. “I’m really optimistic that someone is going to know who she is,” Joseph said.
She said the church is hoping to restore the statue of Mary and also intends to repair or replace other damaged materials.
- Contact Kevin Edwards at 662-581-7233 or kedwards@gwcommonwealth.com.
The original photo caption with this article incorrectly reported that it showed the suspect entering the church. She was exiting.
