Grandmother, 77, Is Stabbed to Death While Confronting Man Trying to Steal Her Car: Police

Atlanta Police are now searching for a 'person of interest' seen on camera during the alleged murder and robbery

A "kind, precious" 77-year-old grandmother in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood was stabbed to death Saturday — allegedly by a man trying to steal her Lexus, according to Atlanta police.

Eleanor Bowles' son found her dead inside her home on Dec. 10 when he arrived to visit for the holidays.

After arriving on the scene, "Officers located a 77-year-old female victim inside the residence who was not alert, conscious, or breathing and had sustained multiple lacerations," Atlanta police said in a statement.

Officials were at the house from a little before 6 pm through the following morning, 11 Alive reports.

At a press conference, Homicide Commander Lt. Germain Dearlove said the unidentified suspect allegedly stabbed Bowles "multiple times" when she interrupted him trying to steal her car. After the attack, the man allegedly took the car and drove it around the city. The vehicle was later located in Dekalb County and is being processed.

"This is a very active investigation," Chief Hampton said at the press conference. "This is not the way a family should have to spend their holiday season, mourning and grieving the death of a loved one."

Lt. Dearlove also said, "The motive appears to be a crime interrupted, a robbery. Ms. Bowles was in possession of a 2021 Lexus and we believe the individual attempted to steal the vehicle. Ms. Bowles may have encountered him [while he was trying to take the car], and she was killed."

A person of interest was seen on a neighbor's surveillance camera, but the identity of the man in question is still unknown. It's also undetermined whether anyone else was involved.

Family and friends of Bowles have launched a GoFundMe to raise funds for the Atlanta Humane Society, "an organization Ellen loved."

"Many of you know and loved Ellen," the GoFundMe reads. "She was a kind, precious, funny, loving mother, grandmother, and friend … It is with heartbreaking sadness that we grieve her loss from this world entirely too soon … It is unbelievable that crimes like this continue to happen in Atlanta, and it must stop."