STUART, Fla. (CBS12) — A former hospice employee is behind bars after investigators say she stole two rings from a patient after they had died and later pawned one of them.
According to the Stuart Police Department, officers received a report on Aug. 18 that two rings were missing from a deceased Treasure Coast Hospice patient.
A Stuart police detective searched pawn transaction records and discovered that a hospice employee, identified as Latoya Morrine Moye of Fort Pierce, had pawned a ring in Port St. Lucie just one day after it was reported missing.
Police said the ring was recovered, and the patient’s family identified it as one of the two missing rings. Pawn records and surveillance video also identified Moye as the person who made the transaction, according to police.
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Moye was charged with third-degree grand theft, and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
She was later arrested in St. Lucie County. The second ring remains missing.
Treasure Coast Hospice is covering the cost of retrieving the recovered ring and returning it to the family.