'Heartbreaking': Kenosha woman's grandparents have tens of thousands of dollars stolen in scam

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A Kenosha woman is heartbroken after she says what her grandparents thought would be yard work, turned into a major scam.

Emily Jacobsen says it all started when two men offered to cement her grandparents' driveway. She says while one of them pretended to work, the other broke into her grandparents' home, stealing tens of thousands of dollars.

"Violating, first of all, and then for them to take such a large sum of money that they kept in their safe, is devastating," Jacobsen said.

Eighty-nine-year-old Gordon Fox says his passion is working in his yard, and it’s something he takes pride in. So, when two men stopped by offering to do cement work on his driveway Thursday, he said yes.

“He was like this is great, they’re going to give me a good deal," said Jacobsen. "Grandma came outside, she was on board with it. They asked for payment upfront, which -- red flag, but my grandparents just didn’t know any better."

Jacobsen says once her grandmother, Pat, brought out the money, one of the men started working and the other one went into their home and stole tens of thousands of dollars.

"Heartbreaking to find out," said Jacobsen. "I was sick for days, like I couldn’t sleep. My grandparents are just the kindest, sweetest people in the world."

Jacobsen says once they secured the money, the two men abruptly left, and left a mess behind. She says when her grandparents went inside, they saw the money they had pulled out of their safe earlier, to pay the men, was gone.

"Obviously you don’t want this to happen to anyone, but when it happens to someone you really care about, who just does not deserve this at all, like, you know, it cut extra deep," said Jacobsen. "It’s a pretty helpless feeling, too, because there’s nothing I can do about it now.”

Always her loyal supporters, she says she's heartbroken someone would target her grandparents, who have lived happily in their home for 60 years.

"I would love some justice for my grandparents," said Jacobsen. "I would love it if they could get their money back, some type of consequences for the people who did this.”

The Kenosha Police Department says this is still an active investigation and were unable to give further details at this time.

Jacobsen says not long ago, her grandma received a call from a scammer claiming to be her cousin, asking for money. She says it's disheartening to know people are targeting vulnerable people and wants to spread awareness.