RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) - A driver for a mortuary has been arrested on suspicion of stealing a ring from a woman’s body, police said.
Mark Anthony Zuniga, 27, faces one felony count of removing articles from a dead body, Riverside police said in a news release. It wasn’t known Friday if the Downey resident has an attorney.
Investigators believe he lifted the jewelry from the body of an elderly woman who died at a Riverside hospital on Sept. 24, the Press-Enterprise reported.
Zuniga was assigned to take the woman’s body from the hospital to a mortuary facility in Orange County, police said. Days later, the victim’s relatives reported that her ring was missing.
The ring was described as a family treasure worth several thousand dollars.
Detectives learned the stolen property was sold to a pawn shop in Los Angeles County, and identified Zuniga as a suspect. He was arrested Tuesday and scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 23.
The ring was returned to the family.
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