[kwflatbed]

BROCKTON - The family of a woman who recently died at a Brockton hospital is outraged that someone apparently stole their relative's gold wedding band and diamond engagement ring right off her finger between her room and the hospital morgue.
Evelyn DeFlavis was 89 when she died at Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center on Sept. 10. She had worn her wedding band for 58 years, even after her husband died six years ago.
DeFlavis' daughter, Marla Seelye, tells the Enterprise of Brockton that the family did not take the rings off because they intended on burying them with her mother.
DeFlavis' granddaughter, Marlaina Gordon, calls the theft "black hearted."
Hospital spokeswoman Monique Aleman says police have been notified and the hospital is investigating.

http://bostonherald.com/news/region...amily:_Dead_woman_s_rings_stolen_at_hospital/

 

[7costanza]

Nice....the same thing happened at the hospital I used to work at...and the hospital management refused to cooperate with the Police Investigation...nice ha..

 

[kwflatbed]

Ring stolen from corpse wasn't a first

By Maureen Boyle
GateHouse News Service
Posted Sep 26, 2008 @ 05:00 AM

BROCKTON -
When Barbara Heiberg and Carole Paige read about how an 89-year-old woman's rings were reported stolen after she died at Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center, the sisters flashed back six years to their mother, who was dying in the same hospital of lung cancer.
"I just couldn't believe it," Paige of Stoughton said. "That's just like what happened to us."
Since news broke of the reported ring theft from an 89-year-old woman who died, three other families have come forward to report similar cases.
Lt. John Crowley, chief of Brockton detectives, said two people filed reports with police this week, saying jewelry had been taken from their relatives. A third family contacted The Enterprise of Brockton.
Crowley said detectives will investigate the cases to see what happened to the jewelry and how the items vanished.
In one case reported to police, a man said his mother's wedding ring disappeared when she was hospitalized in 2000. In the second case reported to police this week, a woman said her brother's ring disappeared in 2007.
Monique Aleman, hospital spokesman, said Good Samaritan takes all reports seriously and recovers, on average, at least 90 percent of all missing patient items.
"Everybody is on the same page in terms of wanting to know what happened," she said.
Hospitals routinely urge patients to keep all valuables, such as jewelry, either locked up or to have a relative take the items home to prevent them from being lost or stolen.
Aleman said lost or stolen items are concerns at all hospitals. "This is not a problem unique to any one hospital," she said.
Barbara Heiberg and Carole Paige said they tried to safeguard their mother's jewelry when she was hospitalized.
They said they removed one of rings on the hand of her mother, Mae Davis, as a precaution but a second, diamond and sapphire ring wouldn't come off.
The next day, as their mother's condition worsened, the sisters looked down and saw the ring was gone, they said.
"We went to the hospital and were told she wasn't going to make it," Paige said. "She passed away in our arms, and then I ... (noticed) that the ring was gone."
Earlier this month, the family of Evelyn DeFlavis reported that her wedding band and engagement ring were stolen off her finger after she died at Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center.
Marla Seelye, one of DeFlavis' daughters, said she doesn't believe the rings will be found but hopes other families will be on the alert. "The theft is minor compared to the act itself," she said.

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x1031722165/Ring-stolen-from-corpse-wasn-t-a-first

 

[kwflatbed]

Family: Dead Woman's Stolen Rings Returned

BROCKTON (WBZ) ― The wedding rings stolen from the hand of an elderly woman who had just died at a hospital in Brockton have been anonymously returned, the family said Tuesday.

The family of 89-year-old Evelyn DeFlavis was devastated when the beloved rings were stolen last month from Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center. They said they received a call from hospital officials on Monday, who said the rings had been anonymously mailed to the hospital.

The family retrieved the rings Tuesday. DeFlavis' daughter, Kim Gordon, had said the family left the rings on their mother's fingers because they intended to bury them with her.

They say the rings were stolen somewhere between DeFlavis' room and the hospital morgue.

After the family reported the rings stolen, three more families came forward to report that jewelry was stolen from the bodies of their loved ones who died at the hospital.

Hospital officials have launched an internal investigation.

So far, no arrests have been made.

http://wbztv.com/local/Stolen.rings.returned.2.835024.html