ODESSA, Texas — A Texas woman is facing a felony charge for stealing a wedding ring off of the finger of a deceased person.
Odessa American Online reported that the woman took the ring off of the hand of Lois Hicks.
Hicks died the day before. Her daughter, Vel McKee, said the thief yanked off the ring, meant to symbolize her mother's devotion to her husband, Gayle Hicks, who died three years earlier.
The ring was actually a $10 piece of plastic.
"It's being investigated, even though the ring was a $10 plastic ring," Cpl. Steve LeSueur of the Odessa Police Department told USA Today. "Theft of a corpse, regardless of whether it's $5 or $5,000 is still an automatic felony."
The family said they have seen the surveillance video of the theft.
Police said it is not known how the video appeared online.
The Sunset Funeral Home, where the theft occurred, said it did not publish the video.
Hick's granddaughter, Brooke Vaughan Burns, has posted the video to Facebook, asking people to share it and an image from the video in order to catch the thief.
"I can’t believe someone would be that low,” McKee said. "It makes me sick to my stomach,” McKee said. "Horrible. I hope they catch her."
Everyone please keep sharing about my grandmother. The thief has NOT been identified. Several people have called in...
Posted by Brooke Vaughan Burns on Sunday, April 10, 2016
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