Montgomery County man sentenced to 17 years for kidnapping 80-year-old woman in 2018

A Montgomery County man has been sentenced to 17 years behind bars for the kidnapping of an 80-year old woman in her Potomac home last year.

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The victim in this case, now 81-year-old Renate Funk, said she managed to get away from then 39-year-old Robert Dove, of Poolesville, but only after she gave him cash and jewelry, took him out to eat and afterward, and then paid for him to stay at a hotel. 

During Friday’s sentencing, Funk described how she had to remain calm and figure out how she was going to get away from Dove. This after she said, on the afternoon of October 14, 2018, that Dove showed her a knife and demanded money and jewelry after coming up to her Potomac home pretending he was there to inspect her roof.

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Funk also described how later that afternoon he made her drive him into the middle of a farm in Poolesville before she could convince him to get dinner with her at a nearby Asian restaurant. 

The farm area is also where detectives with the Montgomery County Police Department said Dove cut off his ankle bracelet that he was required to wear during his pre-release program, but when he said he wanted to go back to her house in Potomac — Funk said she managed to convince him that she could drive him to the Hilton Hotel on Rockville Pike and pay for his room for three nights. 

Shortly after, Funk drove to a friend’s house and told the friend what had occurred. The friend urged her to call police but she was fearful that if she called the police, Dove would find out and hurt her.

Dove was arrested outside of the hotel the next morning.

“The thing is to keep calm,” said Funk after the sentencing. “And to think about your own well-being and what is good for you, don’t worry about what people think. For me it was good to have the psychological upper hand and I had that after ten minutes and until after the end of the evening.”

The judge also heard from Dove’s wife and a family friend. Both said that while they acknowledge what he did, they are hoping he gets treatment not only for alcoholism but also for mental health.

“He’s an awesome young man when he’s working on himself,” said Chris Maran. "And I believe that in the right environment he can be a better person and I think jail is not the right environment for him.”

Dove took the opportunity to address Judge David Lease saying that he regrets the events that lead him to where he is now and takes full responsibility for what he has done. He said that he let down his wife and family and would like to apologize to Ms. Funk.