Thelma Lou robbed in Mayberry

Man, this is depressing. Of all things, Thelma Lou was robbed last week in Mayberry. This just isn't supposed to happen.

But Betty Lyyn, the actress who played Barney Fife's girlfriend Thelma Lou in the 1960s classic "The Andy Griffith Show," had her wallet stolen in Mount Airy, N.C., the town that inspired the idyllic small-town fictional Mayberry.

Lynn had her purse stolen at a shopping center in Mount Airy, birthplace of Andy Griffith. Say it ain't so! And Lynn had moved there from Los Angeles because she had been robbed three times there.

I propose deputizing both Gomer and Otis and have them hunt down this thief. This is a big job. As Barney, who no doubt would be putting his one bullet in his gun, would say, "Let's set up a roadblock! Let's get some tear gas! Call the state police! Andy, this is no time for sittin' around!"

But, wait, a suspect has already been apprehended. She's Shirley Walter Guynn of Cana, Va. I would have thought she's been in the Mayberry Jail, but she's being held in Surry County Jail on a $10,000 bond. Sounds to me like she might be a member of Old Ma Barker's gang.

I don't know what's more depressing. That Lynn had her purse stolen or that she's 83.