Search for home invasion suspect in Orange County

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - With holiday icicle lights still hanging from the roof, a family's Christmas and New Year's cheer ended abruptly Tuesday, when the Orange County Sheriff's Office says a strange woman with a gun forced her way inside the home.

“I was scared, because I have 4 children,” sad Iris, whose husband was outside warming up his car just before 6 a.m., when the stranger approached.  “He tell her, 'What are you doing here?' And she tells him, 'I got a call from this address.'”

The stranger told her husband she a call for adult services.  

“My husband tells her, 'No, you have the wrong address! I live here with my wife and my kids!'”

Deputies say that’s when the stranger pushed the man aside while flashing a gun and forced her way into the family’s home.  Iris says she was in bed sleeping when she heard noise in her kitchen.

“It was right here, when she saw the purse she said, 'Oh, somebody has to pay me! She opened the purse and grabbed the wallet!” Iris explained.  

She says she screamed so loud in fear, that she woke up her four small children.  Investigators say that's when the strange woman took the purse and ran out the front door.

“We have a true victim here. It appears to be a case where the suspect came to the wrong residence,” said Sheriff's Office spokesperson Jane Watrel.  

An artist will be working with the couple to try to come up with a composite sketch of the suspect.  Watrel says while the family was pretty shaken up, but thankfully, no one was physically injured.