Texas police are on the hunt for a thief who entered a local funeral home and stole a ring off the finger of a dead woman. The act alone is disturbing, but there's a catch: the ring is fake, a $10 piece of plastic, according to police.
The woman, who remains identified, entered the Sunset Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home in Odessa, Texas, on Friday and stole the ring from the body of 88-year-old Lois Hicks, who died just the day before.
"I can't believe someone would be that low," said Vel McKee, Hicks' daughter.
Friday's incident began when the woman walked into Sunset Funeral Home at around 5:30 p.m. and asked to use the restroom, according to funeral home manager Bill Vallie. This was when she entered Hicks' room which was empty after family and friends left just moments before.
The next moments were caught on camera, taking place over the span of about three minutes. Security footage shows a white woman wearing a brown long sleeve sweater, black sweatpants and black sandals, leaning over the woman and taking the ring. She then leaves the room and eventually the building, driving away in a red or maroon Saturn sedan.
McKee notes that the theft wasn't noticed until 15 minutes later when she returned to touch up her deceased mother's makeup and noticed the ring was missing from the finger. The possibility of the ring being displaced was quickly ruled out when she realized that the skin on the finger where the ring had once been was torn.
"It makes me sick to my stomach," she said. "Horrible. I hope they catch her."
In light of the theft, Cpl. Steve LeSueur of the Odessa Police Department stated that an investigation has been launched, but despite reviewing surveillance, has only been left with a physical description of the woman and getaway car, noting that police have been unable to make out the license plate number.
He added that investigators are treating the case as a felony theft from a corpse for now, but said there could be more charges in the future.
"It's being investigated, even though the ring was a $10 plastic ring," he said. "Theft of a corpse, regardless of whether it's $5 or $5,000 is still an automatic felony."
Odessa Police have released the surveillance video on their official Facebook page in hopes that the public could help identify the woman. Check it out below:
