STATESVILLE, N.C. -- Statesville police are searching for a man who stole a donation box set up to help the families of a mother and grandfather shot and killed in a convenience store robbery just before Christmas.

Investigators said 19-year-old Andrew Ramseur shot clerk Jennifer Vincek and customer Jeff Peck at the Shell station on East Broad Street in mid-December. Vincek, 28, was a single mother of three. Peck, 52, was a grandfather of five.

A cigar box was set up to collect donations for the victims’ families at the Shell station. Statesville Police Asst. Chief Tom Anderson said that on Aug. 2, a man came into the store, asked about the price of some potato chips and then left. Anderson said the man came back, bought a small bag of peanuts, then grabbed the cigar box from the counter and ran.

Employees chased the man, who jumped on a moped with another man and took off. The thief soon fell off the moped and then fled on foot. Neither has been caught.

Anderson said there wasn’t much money in the box, but because it was for children it’s especially important to catch the culprit.

“This was a case that impacted the entire community and it was a fund set up for the kids,” Anderson said. “It is important that we bring closure to that part of it, because there are a lot of people that are affected and hurting because of this.”

Peck’s daughter, Jennifer Peck, called the thief heartless.

“For someone to do that, I just think they're pretty heartless. There are other ways to get money. I just think it's pretty heartless,” she said.

Bradley Olsen knew Vincek well and was working the night the box was stolen. He said the fact that someone would steal it is beyond anything he could ever imagine happening.

“No regard of human life,” he said. “These people don't care, and I hope to God someone finds them."

The owner of the store said he is going to leave it up to the clerks whether to put up a new donation box because he said they are the ones put at risk.

Anyone with information about the theft is asked to call police at (704) 878-3406 or Iredell County Crime Stoppers at (704) 437-COPS.

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