UPDATE: Rose Smoot filed a police report with KCPD on July 22 saying her grandson had her scooter and returned it. Smoot now has her scooter back.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you have mobility issues, a scooter or wheelchair may be the vessel connecting you to the outside world.
That's certainly true for 71-year-old Rose Smoot, who lives at Temple Heights Manor in Kansas City.
Before mid-July, she would ride her scooter just more than a mile to the nearby Price Chopper to get groceries, but now that is no longer an option.
She said she went to the public restroom on the second floor of her 62-and-over residence, leaving her Maxima Scooter in the hall.
"When I came back, it was gone," Smoot said. "It was gone."
Smoot said she suffers from arthritis, COPD and a weak pelvis and right now is also dealing with bruised and fractured ribs.
Smoot said she needs a scooter to get around, but she's been using two canes for the past eight days.
"It was my baby," Smoot said. "I was very proud to have it. I need it. I can't walk; I can barely breathe."
Smoot filed a police report and went to the management team at Temple Heights Manor, but there's been no sign of her scooter so far.
Residents expressed mixed reviews of the security at the HUD housing facility.
Some told us there is a security guard and surveillance cameras.
"They see a lot," said Danny Candiano, who said he recently talked with Smoot about her scooter. "There’s more than one camera in those things, so they see a lot."
There are warning signs not to remove decor in the halls or residents will be charged for it.
Nobody with Temple Heights was immediately available when 41 Action News reached out for specifics on security in Smoot's building.
Smoot said the scooter was a gift from the family of a man who used to live in the facility who passed away and she can't afford to replace it.
Smoot said some neighbors thought they saw it in a blue pickup truck on the property around the time the scooter went missing.
Anyone with information can call the Kansas City Police Department at 816-234-5000.
