Kristi Noem Reveals Exactly How Her Bag Containing $3,000 In Cash Was Stolen
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem opened up about the theft of her purse, which contained $3,000 in cash, while she was dining with her family at a Washington, D.C., restaurant over the weekend.
In an interview with the 'VINCE' show released Wednesday, Noem said she has yet to retrieve the bag, describing the incident as 'shocking.'
Noem said the theft was 'professionally done,' confirming that the person who stole her bag was wearing a medical mask.
'He hooked [the purse] with his foot and drug it a few steps away and dropped a coat over it and took it,' Noem told host Vince Coglianese. 'I felt it. But I thought it was my grandkids kicking me in the legs.'
The man wore dark clothes and sat at a nearby table at Capital Burger in downtown Washington with his back to Noem, who was having dinner with family, before moving to steal the bag with his foot, CNN reported, citing sources who viewed surveillance footage of the incident. Noem noticed her purse was missing after getting up from the table, according to the network.
Asked if she thought she was targeted because of her role in the administration, Noem said she wasn't sure.
'I don't know. There's an investigation going on,' she said. 'I was a busy grandma with four kids, four grandkids under the age of 4, and I was taking care of them and feeding them food and enjoying my family, but certainly had my purse even touching my feet.'
'That's how vulnerable people can be,' she added.
Beside the large amount of cash, her purse also included her government identification, passport, driver's license, checkbook, makeup and medication.
While Noem did not address in the interview why she had $3,000 in cash on hand, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security previously told HuffPost it was to 'treat her family to dinner, activities, and Easter gifts.'
U.S. Secret Service agents accompanied Noem when the incident occurred, according to multiple newsreports, raising questions about how the person was able to carry out the theft.
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San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Will Democrats finally stop defending protesters who turn to thuggery?
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CNN
2 hours ago
- CNN
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Buzz Feed
3 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
21 Extremely Dark Hometown True Crime Stories
Do you love all things weird, dark, and creepy? Subscribe to the That Got Dark newsletter to get your weekly dopamine fix of the macabre! It's a scary good time you won't want to miss. We recently asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about the wildest true crime story from their hometown. Here are their shocking responses: "My dad's from Midwest City, Oklahoma. He went to school one day a couple blocks away from the Oklahoma City bombing. Said he felt the ground shake and watched a mushroom cloud rise up. Scary." —lovelybubble855What happened: The Oklahoma City bombing, one of the deadliest acts of domestic terrorism in U.S. history, occurred on April 19, 1995. The perpetrator, Timothy McVeigh, detonated a truck bomb outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 people, including 19 children who were in a daycare center in the building, and injuring hundreds more. McVeigh died by lethal injection on June 11, 2001. "The murder of Craig Rideout near Rochester, New York. He lived in one of our upper-class suburbs. His ex-wife, Laura, was behind it over custody disputes. She had been planning to leave the state with her boyfriend and children. She even got their eldest to play a hand in it; they had dumped evidence just a few miles from my house in a place called Devil's Bathtub. The whole thing was wild and was featured on a few true crime shows. There is still a huge debate about if the ex-best friend was involved, even though he was found not guilty." —shilderbrandt96What happened: Craig Rideout, who was from Penfield, New York, was murdered in 2016. His body was found with his face severely disfigured from acid and wrapped in a tarp in the woods of Yates County. The case drew significant media attention due to the involvement of his estranged wife, Laura Rideout, and their two sons, Colin and Alex Rideout. Laura and Colin Rideout were convicted of second-degree murder and are serving life sentences. Alex Rideout was acquitted of murder but convicted of tampering with evidence. "Easter is not the same in a small town, Hamilton, which is 30 minutes north of Cincinnati, Ohio. In my home town the Easter Sunday Massacre is always brought up each year. A troubled man, James Ruppert, slayed 11 members of his family back in the '70s. I remember being friends with a new kid in town whose family rented the house and had no idea what happened. It wasn't until none of us would stay the night that they learned what happened." —shywalrus37What happened: On Easter Sunday, March 30, 1975, James Ruppert shot and killed 11 members of his own family, including his mother, brother, sister-in-law, and eight nieces and nephews who ranged in age from 4 to 17. Ruppet was arrested, charged, and found guilty on two counts of aggravated murder and not guilty on the other nine counts by reason of insanity. 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Bar-Jonah was also considered a chief suspect in the 1996 disappearance of 10-year-old Great Falls resident Zachary Ramsay. However, after Zachary's mother was convinced by Bar-Jonah's defense team to say she believed her son was alive, murder and kidnapping charges against him were dropped. Bar-Jonah died in prison from a blood clot in 2008. "We lived in Gilmer, Texas (a small town in Northeast Texas), and the unsolved mystery there was about a 17-year-old girl named Kelly Dae Wilson. She worked at a movie store downtown and disappeared after work one night. Nobody's heard from her or seen her since! There were rumors she was buried in the concrete that had been poured for the new Pizza Hut but I believe that got debunked — not sure." —sassylegend40What happened: Kelly Dae Wilson vanished on January 5, 1992, after leaving her workplace to make a bank deposit. Her car was found at the store with a flat tire, and personal belongings inside, but her keys were missing. 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After months of investigation, Protti confessed to the murder and was convicted of second-degree murder, serving seven years of a nine-year sentence before being released on parole in 1992. "The Anna Branson murder happened in my hometown, Madisonville, Kentucky (a small town of about 30,000 residents at the time). The house where she lived is very pretty, but has been listed for sale numerous times, largely due to its reputation as the 'murder house.' In a shocking twist, the culprit turned out to be her nephew, Russell Winstead." "Anna was a savvy businesswoman known for owning the local Dairy Queen and other properties. While some spoke of her as a sweet old lady, others were a bit more honest about her being quite terse and intimidating, especially when discussing her finances. When Russell repeatedly approached her for money to cover his gambling debts, she finally refused to let him off the hook again. This refusal led to a vicious attack in her basement, where he killed her before fleeing. After a lengthy investigation, authorities identified Russell as the murderer, but he had already escaped to Costa Rica. They found his father funding his hiding. The efforts to extradite him became a sensational story, ending up on all the 24-hr news channels."—AnonymousWhat happened: In January 2003, 85-year-old Anna Mae Branson was brutally murdered in her home. Her nephew, Russell Winstead, was eventually identified as the killer after investigators uncovered his significant gambling debts to her, totaling nearly $100,000. Further evidence, including a burner phone and a knife matching the murder weapon, linked him to the crime. Winstead was apprehended in 2005 and later convicted of murder and robbery, receiving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison. "I grew up next door to the highest-ranking female members of the NXVIM cult. The oldest daughter, Lauren, babysat for my sister and me on a few occasions while she was a teenager and prior to the cult being established. But when I was a teenager, myself and some of the neighbors started becoming suspicious. I told my parents I thought that the people next door were in a cult, but they laughed it off, thinking it was teenage dramatics. About 15 years later, the FBI showed up, and it was all exposed! " —Anonymous, 37 Clifton Park NYWhat happened: Presenting itself as a multi-level marketing organization that "offers personal and professional development" seminars, NXIVM is generally believed to have been a front for a sex cult that was founded by convicted sex trafficker Keith Raniere. Some of the cult's members included heiresses, powerful CEOs, and even Hollywood actors like Allison Mack, Grace Park, and Kristin Kreuk among many others. HBO released a docuseries in 2020 called The Vow that delved into NXIVM's shady practices via former members. "Craig Frear was seen walking into the woods in 2004 in Glenville, New York, and has never been seen or found since. Supposedly, he had been lying to his family for weeks about going to work daily (even though he'd been fired), and when his mom called and asked him to come home because she found out, he walked into the woods behind his friend's apartment. He left his car at the apartment, and his social security has never been used. Going on 21 years of him being missing and not a single clue. " —Anonymous, Glenville, NYWhat happened: Craig Frear, who was 17 years old, vanished on June 27, 2004, after leaving his girlfriend's house and walking along railroad tracks behind some apartments. Despite extensive searches by law enforcement and volunteers, his whereabouts remain unknown. He had no identification or money on him, deepening the mystery of his disappearance. "In 1980s Narborough, Leicestershire, England, a man named Colin Pitchfork killed two teenage girls. They knew he was a man of a certain age, so they caught him by DNA testing all the men that fit that description, but he got a friend to do the test for him. Later, he was caught and DNA matched, the first case in the world where that happened. It was a small village so everyone knew someone who knew either Pitchfork himself or one of the victims. All my mate's dads were tested (my dad wasn't because he could prove he was away working at the time), and 4 or 5 years later, we used to walk to school past where the 2nd victim was found, which was down a country lane through wood and fields. There was still a painted cross on a tree where the police marked the location." —Anonymous, 42, LondonWhat happened: Colin Pitchfork was the first person to be convicted of rape and murder using DNA profiling. He killed two 15-year-old girls in Leicestershire in the 1980s. In 1988, he was sentenced to life in prison, but he was released on parole in 2021. However, he was recalled to prison later that year for breaching the conditions of his release. In 2023, a parole review was conducted, but the decision to release him was overturned following intervention from the Lord Chancellor. As of June 2025, Pitchfork remains incarcerated. "The unsolved murder of Holly Branagan in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1978. Her mother passed away from cancer a few years before. She was known as a friendly, helpful young girl who was in the school choir. Had an older brother who no longer lived at home, so she lived alone with her dad. At the time of her death, her dad was on a business trip in Atlantic City. Her friend was meant to pick her up from school, but upon waiting for Holly for over 10 minutes, she took it upon herself to go to the front door. No answer. She went around the back, and the back door was ajar, so she went in and found Holly dead on the kitchen floor, stabbed many times. The phone was off the hook, the clock on the wall was broken and stopped at the time that was believed to be her time of death." "A little while later, her brother started publicizing that he knew who the killer was and then subsequently died in a gas station explosion. Her dad lived in the house until he died. I've driven by the house several times because I had a friend who lived across the street, and we used to walk to the river, which we needed to walk around the house and behind the backyard to get to. I get extreme chills every time. "—Anonymous, 25, Bethlehem, PAWhat happened: Holly Branagan was just 17 years old when she was found stabbed 18 times in her family's kitchen. Despite extensive forensic testing, including DNA analysis and fingerprint examination, no conclusive evidence has been found. Contamination of the crime scene and the deterioration of evidence over time have hindered the investigation. While a suspect has been identified, the evidence remains circumstantial, and no arrests have been made. The case remains unsolved. "We had the Amanda Jones missing person case in Jefferson County, Missouri. She went missing in 2005, leaving her car and personal belongings in the Civic Center parking lot. To this day, no one knows what happened to her. The main person of interest passed away. A couple of theories are she was buried under the highway extension or possibly was fed to the pigs on the person of interest's farm. The saddest part is she was pregnant." —Anonymous, 25 MissouriWhat happened: In August 2005, Amanda Jones, who was eight and a half months pregnant, disappeared after meeting Bryan Westfall. Her car was found abandoned, but her purse, keys, wallet, and cellphone were missing. Westfall, who was considered the father of her unborn child, was the last known person to see her. Despite being a person of interest, he denied involvement, and no charges were filed. In December 2021, Westfall died suddenly, just as the Missouri Attorney General's Office was preparing to charge him in connection with Jones's disappearance. Following his death, Jones's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against him, alleging he murdered her and concealed her death. However, the lawsuit was dismissed in September 2022. The investigation remains active. "A little girl named Ashley Estell, who was seven years old, like me, but went to a school across town, was kidnapped from a soccer tournament on Labor Day Weekend in Plano, Texas. She was playing on the playground with a million people around and simply vanished. I'll never forget my parents coming in from working on the search party, and they were simply devastated because they were sent home when an ambulance and the coroner showed up. It turns out the killer took her into the woods and creek behind our neighborhood, sexually assaulted her, and strangled her to death. We weren't allowed to ride our bikes by ourselves after that. We did anyway, but we were always looking over our shoulders. " —Anonymous, 40, Plano, TXWhat happened: The 1993 murder of 7-year-old Ashley Estell in Plano, Texas, led to the wrongful conviction of a man named Michael Blair, who was sentenced to death based on hair evidence later proven to be unreliable. New DNA testing revealed that the hair samples did not match Blair or the victim, prompting prosecutors to declare that there was no longer a valid basis for his conviction. The charges against Blair were dismissed, and he was exonerated in 2008. The case remains unsolved, with authorities continuing to investigate other potential suspects. "A local mom went missing in my hometown of New Canaan, Connecticut a few years ago. Her name was Jennifer Dulos. The case made national news for a little while because of the circumstances. She was a white, pretty, young mom of five kids who went missing in a wealthy Connecticut town where 'nothing bad ever happens.' Her ex-husband (in the middle of a divorce) was quickly found to be the main suspect after her car was found abandoned and blood was found in her kitchen and garage. He was arrested, along with his girlfriend, as they continued to build the case against him. On his day to appear in court, he was found dead in his car having died by suicide. Jennifer's body was never found. I still think about all the FBI agents I saw and the helicopters flying over our local park during the search for her. Our town has never seen anything like it. It's a very sad story." —Anonymous, 27, New Canaan CTWhat happened: Jennifer Dulos, a mother of five, disappeared on May 24, 2019, amid a contentious divorce and custody battle with her estranged husband, Fotis Dulos. Authorities believe Fotis ambushed Jennifer at her home, fatally attacked her, and disposed of her body with the assistance of his girlfriend, Michelle Troconis. Despite extensive investigations, Jennifer's body was never found. Fotis was charged with murder but died by suicide in January 2020 before standing trial. In March 2024, Michelle Troconis was convicted of all charges, including conspiracy to commit murder and evidence tampering, and was sentenced to 14.5 years in prison. In October 2023, a judge declared Jennifer legally dead. "Not in my town, but the next town over in Crookston, Minnesota. I remember the Dru Sjodin case when she first went missing. It was on the news for the longest time, and a lot of people were looking for her. I remember seeing the news when they found her body. The subsequent arrest and trial of the man who did it was big news for a long time, as was his being sentenced to death. I think it was nearly twelve or thirteen years ago that his death sentence was overturned, and a few years ago, he was sentenced to life without parole." —Anonymous, 30, Northern MinnesotaWhat happened: Dru Sjodin, a 22-year-old University of North Dakota student, was abducted on November 22, 2003, from a Grand Forks mall parking lot by convicted sex offender Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. Rodriguez, who had been released from prison earlier that year. He took Sjodin across state lines to Minnesota, where he murdered her and disposed of her body near Crookston. Her remains were discovered in April 2004. Rodriguez was convicted in 2006 and initially sentenced to death. However, in 2021, his death sentence was overturned, and in 2023, federal prosecutors announced they would no longer seek the death penalty. Rodriguez was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. "I'm from Mason City, Iowa, and in '95, when I was 7, one of our news anchors, Jodi Huisentruit, went missing in the early morning and had never been found." —AnonymousWhat happened: Huisentruit was a news anchor in Mason City, Iowa, who disappeared on June 27, 1995, on the way to work. Apparently, there were signs of a struggle outside of her apartment, so it was presumed she was abducted. Thousands of tips and interviews were conducted. However, Huisentruit was never found and was declared legally dead in 2001. "I'm from Atlanta, Texas, which is a tiny town of about 5 to 6,000 people. In 1992 Gerri Butts and her two daughters, Jessica (11) and MacKenzie (3) were found brutally murdered in their mobile home. Gerri's boyfriend, Kevin Hailey, was immediately suspected, and all evidence pointed to him, but being the son of a deputy sheriff, the DA didn't bring charges. This TOTALLY divided the town as ppl took sides with multiple incidents happening among ppl. It was an absolute mess for years. Both families were on the Maury Povich show. Hailey eventually pleaded guilty to killing Gerri in 2009 but wasn't required to admit responsibility for Jessica and MacKenzie's deaths in the plea while he was already serving 87 years for an unrelated murder. " —Anonymous, 42 Atlanta, TXWhat happened: In 1992, investigators found Gerri and Jessica strangled — Jessica also having been sexually assaulted — and Mackenzie drowned in the bathtub. The case had gone unsolved for 15 years when DA Clint Allen reactivated it shortly after he took office. Using forensic technology not available at the time of the murders, Allen got indictments and DNA evidence linked Hailey to the crime. Hailey is currently serving an 87-year prison sentence for attempted murder for stabbing a man in 2004. "I'm from South Salem, New York where Robert Durst lived with his first wife. She disappeared and was almost certainly murdered by him. This happened several years before I was born, but people talked about it whenever he appeared in the news. His house was a short walk from mine. I remember one time seeing police divers in Truesdale Lake. My mom asked them what they were looking for, and they said something about looking for stolen goods stashed in the lake. The news later reported the divers were actually looking for the missing wife's remains." —AnonymousWhat happened: Robert Durst was a real estate heir, convicted murderer, and subject of the HBO docuseries The Jinx. Before the series, Durst had been a suspect in the disappearance of his wife Kathleen McCormack, the murder of his friend Susan Berman, and the killing of his neighbor Morris Black. All this is covered in the docuseries and came to a head when Durst, unaware he was still wearing a mic, famously "confessed" to the murders. He was later convicted of Berman's murder and died in prison in 2022 while serving a life sentence. "In Fairview, Alberta, Canada, Dr. Douglas Snider, a family physician, was killed by his colleague, Dr. Abraham Cooper, in 1999. Cooper was convicted of manslaughter in 2000. Snider's body was never found. The two doctors had been involved in a long-standing conflict. The town still talks about it today! Some believe he buried his body under the concrete of a new build in the area at the time." —Anonymous, 35 Grande Prairie, AlbertaWhat happened: In 1999, before Dr. Douglas Snider's disappearance, he and Dr. Abraham Cooper were involved in a long-standing professional dispute. Apparently, Cooper believed that Snider was part of a conspiracy to undermine his medical practice. Dr. Snider went missing for several days before police found his blood on Cooper's running shoes, in the trunk of his car, and in his office. In 2000, Cooper was convicted of manslaughter in connection with Snider's death. After serving an 88-month sentence, he was released from prison in February 2008. To this day, Snider's body has never been found. "Probably the most well-known one from my hometown: John Wayne Gacy…unbelievable." —Anonymous, 35 ChicagoWhat happened: John Wayne Gacy, known as the Killer Clown — a moniker given because of his public appearances as a clown before the discovery of his crimes — was a serial killer active in the Chicago area in the 1970s, with at least 33 victims. He would rape and torture his victims — young men and boys — before killing them either by asphyxiation or strangulation. Gacy was executed by lethal injection in May 1994. Finally, "There are five unsolved murders in Bardstown, Kentucky. All of them are connected somehow except for two. A cop was assassinated on his way home, then a woman disappeared out of thin air, and her father was assassinated while searching for her! The last two murders were a mother-daughter duo who were tortured and killed in their own home. Yeah it's all really messed up." —Anonymous, 20 Bardstown, KYWhat happened: Since 2013, there have been a series of mysterious and tragic deaths that have haunted the small town of Bardstown. The cases, some believed to be potentially connected, have drawn significant media attention and public speculation due to their violent nature and lack of are the key cases:Officer Jason Ellis (Killed May 25, 2013). Ellis was ambushed and shot multiple times with a shotgun while clearing debris from an off-ramp on the Bluegrass Parkway after his shift. The attack appeared premeditated. Kathy and Samantha Netherland (Killed April 21, 2014) — The two were found brutally murdered in their home. Kathy had been shot, and Samantha had been beaten and stabbed. There was no clear motive, and the killings shocked the Rogers (Disappeared July 3, 2015) — Crystal was last seen by her boyfriend, Brooks Houck, the father of one of her children. Her car was later found on the Bluegrass Parkway with a flat tire and her keys, phone, and purse inside. In 2023, Houck was indicted for her murder. Investigators believe Crystal is dead, although her body has never been Ballard (Killed November 19, 2016) — He was the father of Crystal Rogers and he was shot and killed while preparing for a hunting trip with his grandson. He had been actively investigating his daughter's disappearance. Do you have a wild/dark/horrifying true crime story from your hometown? Tell us about in the comments or via the anonymous form below: Love all things weird, dark, and creepy? Subscribe to the That Got Dark newsletter to get your weekly dopamine fix of the macabre! It's a scary good time you won't want to miss.
