October 16, 2006 (Rebroadcast)

But arthritis and dementia forced her to give up her favorite sport.

Pat's parents retired from the newspaper business, then her father died in 1997. Pat's mother had been living by herself in Sun Lakes until June 16, 2006. That's when she moved into a house near 38th Street and Indian School Road, right across the street from her daughter.

It was her second night in the house, early on Father's Day morning, when, Phoenix Police Sergeant Paul Penzone says, the elderly woman was awakened by a crash. "She could see that the door to her kitchen which had a glass window was broken," Penzone said. "And when she looked up she saw what she believed to be a male silhouette coming towards her. She was knocked unconscious and when she awoke, she found that she was covered in blood and that part of her clothing had been torn and removed."

"I was awakened by a phone call from my mother, telling me that there was glass everywhere and she thought somebody had broken in," says Pat. "And I could see that her arm was discolored and swelling and she kept saying to me 'I think it's broken. I think it's broken.'"

Because of her age and the trauma, doctors were very concerned. "She has a broken elbow, a left arm. It's been very slow to heal."

"Investigators learned in fact this 88-year-old victim had been sexually assaulted in her home," says Penzone.

"Because she suffers from slight dementia, she was unable to recall many of the details of what occurred and she was not able to give a specific description of the suspect."

Nothing was taken from the home, so it appears that robbery was not a motive in the break-in. Pat and her two brothers wonder what kind of monster would do this to a tiny, helpless great-grandmother.

Anyone with information about this crime is encouraged to call (480) WITNESS.