‘Blacked out’ woman stole a $2,600 casket from a funeral home — with a body inside, police say
Responding officers discovered the body face down on rocks outside the front of the funeral home
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
A Las Vegas woman allegedly stole a $2,600 casket - with a body still inside - from a funeral home and told police she “blacked out from drinking six beers."
Patricia Sierra,47, is accused of breaking into the Affordable Cremation & Burial Service funeral home on August 27 by smashing the front window and reaching through to unlock the door.
She is then accused of taking a casket out the front door, according to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) arrest report obtained by USA TODAY.
LVMPD received a call about a suspicious person lying face down in front of the funeral home, as well as a casket in front of the business, which also seemed to have been burgled.
Upon arrival, officers found a door to the funeral home with broken glass and the casket sitting on a cart on a sidewalk near the funeral home, the arrest report says.
They then discovered a body, which had been in the casket and had arrived at the funeral home seven days before - its feet covered with plastic bags and lying face down on some rocks near the front of the property.
Flower petals were inside the viewing room of the funeral home, which officers found to be otherwise untouched save for the broken glass and door, per the report via USA TODAY.
They reviewed camera surveillance footage showing a woman breaking into the funeral home, coming and going multiple times.
Also found and observed on the surveillance video was a red BMX bicycle.
At the scene, police were approached by a construction worker claiming he saw a woman on the day of the incident, who matched the description of the suspect captured in the surveillance video, holding flowers and sitting on one of the funeral home's exterior walls.
The Affordable Cremation & Burial Service declined to comment on the incident when contacted byThe Independent.
They were only able to identify her following a call on August 29 regarding a suspicious person at a 7-Eleven, with the caller claiming he had spotted the suspected casket thief at the convenience store wearing the same clothing from the day of the incident, the arrest report continued.
She was located and detained under reasonable suspicion of stealing the casket.
When officers began to explain how she was caught on surveillance footage, and the scene had been processed for DNA and fingerprints she reportedly claimed she often "blacks out" due to a substance abuse problem.
Sierra was charged that same day with burglary of a business, grand larceny and the removal, transfer and distribution of human remains, with the New York Post reporting her bail was set at $11,000.
Police claim she said she used a red BMX bike as a means of transport, and that she admitted using a rock to break a window was her common method to burglarize businesses.
The documents reportedly describe her in an apologetic light, and that she explained she was actively spiteful in her alleged actions and did not intend to steal the casket.
Sierra had apparently blacked out after drinking the beers, causing her to not remember committing the crimes.