BROOKFIELD TOWNSHIP - A Masury native, who currently lives in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, is charged after police say she stole more than $79,000 from the Columbiana County Kennel Club.

According to a report from Brookfield Township PD, police spoke with a representative of the Kennel Club in October, who told officers that in October of 2023, the organization found some discrepancies in the treasury report submitted by 65-year-old Betty Jo Patterson.

Police say the treasury report showed that the organization had about $100,000, but their bank statement only showed about $9,000. It was then that the organization removed Patterson as the treasurer until they could find out what happened to the missing funds.

From there, police say the Kennel Club requested its bank statements from 2018 to 2023 and found that there had been 91 checks Patterson had made out to cash.

Police say Kennel Club members sat down with Patterson to question her about the missing funds, and she could not give an answer to where the funds went, but when given the possibility that she may have been scammed, she allegedly agreed with that idea.

The organization then provided police with the organization's bank statements, treasury reports, meeting minutes and even a letter Patterson had allegedly wrote to members.

Police found that the total amount of checks written as cash was $79,450, according to the report.

Furthermore, the report describes the contents of the alleged letter. Police say Patterson admitted to being responsible for the missing funds, offering to pay $50 a month to help recover them and stating that any remaining debt would be taken out of her estate upon her death.

From there, police subpoenaed Patterson's bank records and found that every time she cashed a check from the Kennel Club, there would be a deposit into her personal account days later of almost the same amount.

Court records show that Patterson is charged with one count each of theft and tampering with records, both fourth-degree felonies. No arraignment date has been set at this time.