Thieves Steal Money Mother-in-Law Had Raised for Woman's Kidney Transplant

A North Carolina business owner, who has spent months running a raffle to raise funds for her daughter-in-law's life-saving operation, saw all the money stolen by heartless thieves.

Becky Joyner, of Rocky Mount, hoped to help defray the cost of Stephanie Joyner's kidney transplant by raising money at her bait shop.

But on Wednesday, Joyner told CBS News she arrived to work to find her shop had been burglarized.

"When I first saw the screen of the window out, my heart just sunk," Joyner recalled. "I knew without even going into the building something bad happened." 

Inside, she found the tin where she'd stored the $220 raised over the last couple of months empty.

As the Edgecombe County Sheriff's Office investigates the theft, Joyner said there's been a bright side to the shocking crime. 

"Wonderful friends matched what we lost," she said. "It just shows how wonderful people are in horrible situations."

Meanwhile, Stephanie Joyner says she's edging closer to full renal failure and a GoFundMe page has been created to help pay her medical costs.

Stephanie's kidney problems stem from a lifetime of Type 1 diabetes, according to the GoFundMe page.

Stephanie's friends and family are asking everyone to pray for her, and get tested to find out if they are a match for a kidney donation.

She needs someone between the ages of 18-55 with blood type A or O.

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