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Woman Says Stranger Entered Midtown Nashville Hotel Room Overnight, Took $300 From Grandmother's Purse
Parker Maddock says she, her mother and grandmother locked their Vanderbilt Marriott room before bed, but woke to find the door ajar and the purse gone â later recovered in a stairwell with cash missing. Vanderbilt police are still processing the report and have not said whether they have a suspect.
A woman visiting Nashville with her mother and grandmother says someone entered their locked Midtown hotel room while they slept and made off with a purse containing about $300 in cash â an intrusion that has left her questioning whether she will ever feel safe in a hotel again.
Parker Maddock told reporters that the three women were in town to visit her uncle, who had recently undergone major surgery. They turned in early on Friday, returning to their room at the Vanderbilt Marriott around 8 p.m.
"Just us three girls, which itself is a little bit risky sometimes when you're traveling just with women, so we were definitely on high alert," Maddock said. "You are 100% conscious of those things traveling as a woman â that you always lock your door."
Maddock said she is certain the door was closed and locked when they went to bed. The next morning, her grandmother woke to find the door cracked open and her purse missing.
"She knew exactly where she left her purse," Maddock said. "My grandma is spot on. She was planning on getting up really early to go visit my uncle, so she had actually laid out her outfit right on the desk with her purse right on top, with her key card in the purse."
The family called police and went down to the front desk. Maddock described the clerk as helpful and kind but visibly unsure how to respond. Hotel security, she said, reported that the purse had been found in a stairwell in the middle of the night and returned it to them. The only thing missing, according to Maddock, was the cash.
What troubles her most is not the money but the proximity of the intruder.
"You're not thinking about what I'm missing, what was stolen â you're thinking about the fact that someone was at your feet while you were sleeping," she said. "I'm going to the extremes. I'm thinking it could have been five men breaking in. Anything could have happened in a closed-door hotel room with three women alone. That's what's really frightening to us."
Maddock filed a report with the Vanderbilt Police Department. The department said the report is still being processed and declined to release further details, including whether investigators have identified a suspect or made an arrest. The hotel's corporate owner did not respond to a request for comment.
Since returning home, Maddock said her fiancé has bought her several types of door stops and portable locks for hotel rooms. She is due to travel for work next week and said the experience has changed how she thinks about staying alone.
"I don't think I'll ever travel the same again," she said. "I'm actually traveling for work next week, and I don't think I'll stay in the hotel room completely feeling comfortable again."
The incident comes as Nashville authorities have been fielding separate reports of thefts targeting hotel guests in recent months, and as visitors and residents alike weigh how much security they can reasonably expect behind a locked hotel door. For the Maddock family, the answer no longer feels guaranteed.