Update: Woman who stole a ring from a dead person have been arrested

Odessa police said Tuesday that they had arrested a woman suspected of stealing the ring off a dead woman’s finger at a funeral home.

Kalynn Homfeld

Police said in a statement that they arrested Kalynn Homfeld, 41, on Tuesday afternoon. She has been charged with theft from a human corpse and could face six months to two years in a state jail if convicted.

Relatives of Lois Hicks said that someone stole a ring off her finger while she was lying in a casket — and they shared video of the thief in the act.

Bill Vallie, manager of Sunset Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home, told the Odessa American that the woman entered the funeral home around 5:30 p.m. Friday and asked to use the restroom.

In footage posted online, the woman is seen entering the room where Hicks, 88, is lying in a casket. After putting her hand in Hicks’ coffin for more than a minute, the woman turns andleaves.

Odessa police said the woman drove off in a red or maroon four-door Saturn.

Hicks’ daughter Vel McKee said she returned to the funeral home to touch up her mother’s makeup and noticed that the ring was missing.

“We had only been gone for 15 minutes,” McKee told the American. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

McKee said that the family did not know the woman who took the ring and that she tore skin off Hicks’ finger while taking the ring.

What the thief may not have known is that the ring is a fake — “a $10 plastic ring,”