MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) — Police have charged two former employees of a suburban Atlanta hospital laundry with stealing an urn containing the ashes of a stillborn infant and then throwing away the ashes.
Marietta Police last week arrested a married couple, Anilus and Rosnie Frederic, charging them with theft and abandonment of a dead body.
Kieran Massey told WAGA-TV that his fiancee, Carla Watson, gave birth to a stillborn daughter in August. The infant was cremated and her ashes placed inside a small gold urn in a white teddy bear, which Kieran Massey said the couple kept for “emotional support.”
“Losing her plus the ashes was a big heartbreak,” Massey said.
The bear disappeared while Watson was hospitalized at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta in January, WAGA-TV reported. She found it missing after taking a shower. Police suggest someone stole the bear while Watson’s sheets were being changed.
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The teddy bear was found in a trash can at the hospital laundry the same day, but the funerary urn was missing.
The urn was later found at the Frederics’ home, but was empty. Court documents allege they threw away the ashes.
“I pray for them, hope they get better mentally and physically, but I just don’t understand why they would do something like this,” Massey said.
Both the Frederics were released on bail. It’s unclear if they have a lawyer to speak for them.
Wellstar said the Frederics no longer work for the hospital system and said they never worked in a location where patients are treated.
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