Nursing workers steal heirloom jewelry off hand of 104-year-old: police
MEDINA, Ohio (WJW) — Two local nursing workers face felony theft charges, accused of stealing priceless heirloom jewelry from the hands of elderly patients.
All three rings have since been recovered and returned to the victims’ families, police confirmed to FOX 8 News on Tuesday. Police did not explain how the rings were recovered, since the investigation is ongoing.
Authorities earlier this month revealed they were first notified of the thefts in January.
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Bill and Rich Selong said they were visiting their 104-year-old mother, Edith, at the Western Reserve Masonic Community in Medina when they noticed her wedding ring set was missing from her hand.
“I had tried to get the rings off of her hand like a week before because I wanted to take them to get them cleaned, and I couldn’t get them off,” Rich said.
“My guess is, based on my brother’s attempt at getting them off, is that there was quite a struggle and I can’t imagine how someone could get them off without causing her great distress,” Bill said.
Edith was a resident of the Masonic Community since 2010. She passed away in March, not long after the thefts were investigated.
After hours of studying closed-circuit video from the Masonic Community, investigators identified 36-year-old Kevin Essig, an licensed practical nurse; and 29-year-old Jasmin Weir, a nurse’s aide, as their suspects.
Both were former employees of Connect RN and contracted employees for the Western Reserve Masonic Community.
Medina Township Police Chief John Minek on Thursday said they were also suspected of stealing another ring from an 89-year-old resident, who has also since passed away.
Jason French, the president of the Medina Masonic Community, said both would have had to pass an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation background check before working at the facility.
“It is unconscionable that this is something that would happen to seniors in our community or really anywhere else, for that manner,” French said.
The facility contacted authorities immediately after learning of the thefts and initiated the investigation.
“These are heirloom pieces. It is so much more important than the monetary value of this jewelry. I cannot stress that enough,” said Medina County Prosecutor Forest Thompson, revealing the monetary loss for each of the victims is about $10,000 each.
“These diamond rings to my mom, these were her badge — these were things that meant something to her, not just because of what they were worth, but because of what they meant to her symbolically,” Bill said.
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Authorities earlier this month said the two suspects were not talking with investigators and described the current whereabouts of the stolen rings as “missing.”
“We would love to get them back,” Bill said.
“I would hope that someone would look at this as if it was their mom and use the same discretion to return if they came in possession of these things,” Rich said. “My mom was like a child. In fact, as far as I am concerned, she had no recollection, she had no idea what was going on in terms of that.”
In addition to the charges in Medina County, authorities on Thursday also revealed that Essig has been indicted in Summit County on felony charges that include two counts of theft of drugs and one count of illegal processing of drug documents.
Investigators in Medina County could not discuss details of the charges from Summit County.
And while the suspects had apparently been subject to background checks as a condition of their employment, the Medina County Prosecutor believes it is possible there could be other victims.
“The best indicator of someone’s conduct is their past conduct and there’s no reason to believe this was the first time they did it and that’s something that’s being explored,” Thompson said. “We will follow the evidence wherever it takes us and we will aggressively prosecute these individuals and any other individuals that worked ancillary to them.”
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