Thieves robbed dead woman at French funeral home

Burglars stole jewellery from a dead woman's fingers and around her neck as her body lay in a French funeral home. The body of a woman in her eighties was robbed of two rings and a necklace at a funeral home in the south-eastern French town of Rives on May 7th. Unbelievably, it was just the first of two crimes involving the deceased woman.

After the first burglary her family transferred her body to another funeral home, where thieves once again tried to enter the building. Her family have been left outraged and wounded by the transgressions. “It’s horrific,” the niece of the woman said. “They stole her jewellery, that I had lovingly left with her. She had her wedding ring, two rings and a gold necklace.



“Never could I have imagined that such a thing could happen. If even after death you can’t be in peace. It’s a profanation. They touched her. They pulled [the rings] off her fingers. I want families to know that people go to steal from their dead [relatives]. I will do all I can to stop these bastards. People who do that are not even human beings.”

The niece added: “My aunt had an extremely difficult end. I thought that she would rest in peace. It’s unacceptable that people are capable of breaking into funeral homes. It’s not about the jewellery. I don’t care about that. I don’t care about money. All I care about is her honour and to find out who did this.” Police are investigating the burglaries and have not said whether they believe the same thief or thieves was responsible for both funeral home break-ins.