Thief steals ring off dead woman's finger at Texas funeral parlour
A brazen thief has stolen a ring off the finger of a dead woman as the body lay in a casket at a funeral home in Texas.
Shocking CCTV footage showed the suspect walking into the empty room and approaching the body of Lois Hicks, who had passed away the day before.
The unidentified woman can be seen leaning over the casket to appear as though she was mourning Mrs Hicks while she yanks the ring off the older woman’s finger.
She then pulls her sleeve down over her hand to hide the ring and casually walks out of the room.
Mrs Hicks’ daughter, Vel McKee said she had only left the room for 15 minutes when the ring went missing.
“I can’t believe someone would be that low,” Mrs McKee told local news outlet Odessa American.
“It makes me sick to my stomach. Horrible. I hope they catch her.”
Staff at the Odessa funeral home said they had heard of jewellery theft happening at other parlours, but it had never occurred in their business.
The woman allegedly asked to use the bathroom before detouring into the private room.
Mrs McKee said the ring was symbol of her mother’s love and devotion to her late husband, Gayle, who had died three years earlier.
“We just never dreamed that something like this would happen. Not in a million years.”
Police are appealing to the public for help to identify the woman.
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