A frontline worker is accused of stealing an engagement ring and a credit card from an elderly patient who died from the coronavirus at an assisted living facility in Denver.
Prosecutors say Elizabeth Daniels, 29, also used the credit card to purchase a vehicle the day the elderly patient passed away.
Daniels faces multiple charges, including theft from an at-risk victim over $500, identity theft, criminal possession of a financial transaction device, and providing a false statement to a pawn shop owner, WITI reported.
Prosecutors say Daniels pawned 86-year-old Barbara Gust’s engagement ring. Gust lived in an “upscale senior living community” in the memory care wing at Carillion at Belleview Station.
Gust died on April 15 from the coronavirus. As of Wednesday, April 29, 15 positive cases of the coronavirus were reported at the facility.
While Gust’s family was making arrangements with the funeral home, they noticed activity on several of her credit cards after she died.
The family also found out Gust fell and needed to be hospitalized, and during a visit, she was not wearing her engagement ring — valued between $20,000 to $25,000.
The family said they tried contacting staff at the facility to confirm Gust’s room was locked so her items would be secure after receiving an email stating that four people died, and much of the staff had fallen ill from the coronavirus, according to an arrest affidavit.
Police advised the family that they take inventory of the items to see what is missing.
A separate investigation found that Gust’s credit card was used to purchase a $200 vehicle on April 15 on the day of Gust’s death. Prosecutors say Daniels purchased the vehicle, and car dealership officials sent a copy of her license information to the police.
The engagement ring was found at a pawnbroker, and prosecutors said that police confirmed the person who pawned the ring was Daniels.
Police issued a warrant for Daniels’s arrest on April 17 and arrested her on April 20.