Elderly woman cheated out of $300,000; suspect sought

Police in California are asking for the public’s help in finding a woman believed to be living in metro Atlanta who is wanted for stealing $300,000 from an elderly woman.

Hazel Whitt Mitchell, 73, is wanted on a charge of financial elder abuse.

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Authorities say Hazel Whitt Mitchell has relatives in Atlanta, Lilburn and Loganville.

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She is accused of scamming another woman, now 93, out of more than $300,000 between 1994 and 2007, said Sacramento police Detective Mike Wood.

Mitchell, who formerly lived in Texas, has relatives in Atlanta, Lilburn and Loganville, Wood said.

She was arrested on the same charge earlier this year in the Dallas, Texas, area, but was released from custody for unknown reasons, Wood said.

The scam California police want Mitchell for began in 1994 after the death of the 93-year-old woman’s brother, Wood said.

Mitchell falsely claimed that the dead man owed her money and convinced his sister to pay off the debt over time, Wood said.

The victim made payments to Mitchell on a near-weekly basis until police began investigating in 2007, emptying her own bank account in the process, Wood said.

Anyone with information on Mitchell’s whereabouts is asked to call the Sacramento Area Crime Alert tip line at 800-AA-CRIME.