A Claremont woman is looking for answers after her car was stolen in front of 21 Choices in the Village Thursday night.

Jennifer Armas parked her silver 2013 Ford Edge in front of the ice cream shop on the 400 block of First Street around 8:30 p.m. to attend a work party at the nearby Whisper House. She remembers locking her car and placing her keys into her purse, and keeping the purse close to her throughout the work party.

When she was getting ready to leave an hour later, she noticed her car keys were missing from her purse. She frantically looked around the restaurant for over an hour with help from a manager, but to no avail. She took a taxi home, and her husband returned to the scene to continue looking for the keys.

When he arrived at the Whisper House around 12:30 a.m., Ms. Armas said, the car was still there. When he left, the car was gone.

“The person obviously took the keys from my purse and was waiting for cars that were left,” Ms. Armas said.

Remarkably, all other items in Ms. Armas’ purse—including a cell phone, sunglasses and nine dollars in loose cash—were not taken.

Ms. Armas’ husband remembers seeing several people in the early to mid 20s milling about in front of the car, but there was no further description. Sgt. Hector Tamayo of the Claremont Police Department said there are currently no leads or suspect information.

The car is described as a 2013 silver Ford Edge, license plate number 6XCC516. The car has a “Ford of Orange” license plate frame in the front, and a tow hitch on the back with a red “Curtis” sticker.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Claremont Police Department at (909) 399-5411.

—Matthew Bramlett

news@claremont-courier.com