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A Calgary senior says she’s embarrassed after a gold necklace with her and her late husband’s melted wedding bands was stolen during distraction theft outside a Calgary mall.
Ruth Patterson says in February she was on her way to the Walmart at Marlborough Mall in northeast Calgary when a man in a white SUV drove up beside her, asking for directions
“I had no problem at all talking to him and no fear or anything,” says Patterson. ”And I realized as we talked I got closer to his car, to his window.”
Patterson says after giving the man directions, he offered her a ring and a gold chain as a thank you. She says she repeatedly denied him, but he insisted while mentioning Patterson’s resemblance to his mother and that it was his mother’s birthday.
“As he dropped (the necklace) kind of down over my head, he is kind of fumbling with the back of my neck and then says to me ‘will you give me a hug for my mom’ and then I kind of leaned into it,” says Patterson.
“I know it’s not the right thing to do, but I’m a mom. I guess that’s the only justification I can have and I did. I leaned into it and he was kind of fumbling with I thought with the necklace that he was trying to put on my neck.”
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It wasn’t until Patterson was in the store when she noticed her necklace was gone.
Sgt. Nick Wilsher with the Calgary Police Service says distraction thefts are nothing new and often involve offenders travelling across the country while stopping in cities along the way.
“We do see these come every so often,” says Wilsher.
“We try and put out messaging to people to just always be aware of any strangers that are coming to you, seem to be very familiar with you, and also they seem to want to touch you or put things on you. That’s when that does raise any alarm bells.”
Police say while they do recover some of the stolen items, the likelihood is very slim.
Patterson knows she’ll never see her jewelry again, but says the experience won’t stop her from assisting anyone else who pulls up asking for directions.
“I probably would help them, I just wouldn’t get so close,” she says.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
