After at least 20 heists in Florida, a trio accused of stealing jewelry and other family heirlooms from cemeteries and mausoleums is now in custody, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said.
Angela Garrett, 52, and Drake Milam, 33, were arrested in Indiana, while Porsche Bancroft, 32, turned herself in to the Seminole County Jail. All three will face a slew of charges, including injuring or removing a tomb or monument, disturbing the contents of a grave or tomb and grand theft, the sheriff’s office announced Wednesday.
The three Indiana residents are suspected of committing similar crimes in other states, too.
“TOMB RAIDERS! These people steal from our beloved dead relatives! Help us find them,” the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook prior to the arrests.
The agency says the three took items from cemetery or mausoleum niches, where people placed urns containing their loved one’s ashes and often jewelry or other items with sentimental value.
“Imagine losing your wife or husband and placing their wedding ring, and yours, in the niche – only to have them stolen by thieves looking for an easy payday,” read the caption on a Facebook video from the sheriff’s office.
In what appears to be security camera footage, the agency video showed a man in a black hoodie opening the clear door of a niche as a woman in a tie-dye t-shirt stood by.
The trio — a mother, daughter and daughter’s boyfriend — targeted niches in Orange, Seminole and Hillsborough counties and in Winter Park, escaping with more than $35,000 in stolen property, the sheriff’s office said.
“But the dollar amount is not what’s important,” its news release said. “Having a loved one’s final resting place disturbed and cherished family heirlooms taken is deeply painful, and we recognize that no arrest can undo what these families have experienced.”
Garrett, Bancroft and Milam also “went on a tour of the eastern half of the United States,” breaking into niches and mausoleums along the way, said Cpl. Cole Brazee in the Facebook video.
The news release confirmed the trio made appearances in multiple other states, including Texas, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, New York and New Jersey. It’s unclear whether they’ll face charges in those states, and the sheriff’s office did not respond to requests for additional information.
The total number of robberies is unknown. Some may still be unnoticed, the sheriff’s office said, encouraging people to check their loved ones’ burial sites.
“What a horrible person you are if you decide to steal from the dead,” Brazee said.