Distributor’s vehicle, home broken into

The long-time distributor of The Chronicle had her car stolen and house broken into early last Wednesday.

Edna Mayse was parked outside the Doris Duke Center in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens—one of the approximately 75 places she delivers the newspaper to each day—when a man wearing a blue jacket broke into her light blue 2004 Mercury Monterey and sped away. She screamed for assistance, but no one could hear her over the roar of a nearby truck and the sound of two workers doing landscaping work nearby.

“I was just yelling, ‘Just stop! Just stop!’ Mayse said, adding she went inside to the store to ask for help calling the Duke University Police Department. “I was shaking, ‘Please call 911, somebody just stole my van.’”

Her son, Charlie, returned to their Chapel Hill home after being told of their auto robbery and found that the house had been broken into. The thief stole a number of electronic devices, including three computers, a small camera and an old video camera, Edna said. She suspects that the crimes are related.

Chronicle General Manager Jonathan Angier said the organization has temporarily rented a car for Mayse and will loan the family a computer. He noted that he is in the process of determining how to help Mayse, whom he has known for more than 15 years and called “a very sweet and very strong lady.”

“We were saddened to hear about this unfortunate event,” said junior Lindsey Rupp, editor of The Chronicle and president of Duke Student Publishing Company. “Edna has been a member of The Chronicle for about 20 years and we hope to do anything we can to support her and her family during this difficult time.”