French woman arrested after allegedly stealing jewelry from coffin

A woman in France has been arrested after jewelry was stolen from a funeral home in France, local media reported Friday.

The 60-year-old woman was passing herself off as a friend of the deceased person to the grieving family. The family had left the woman alone to pay her respects, but when they returned, the deceased person’s jewelry was missing, French national public radio France Bleu reported.

Upon noticing the disappearance of the jewelry, the family immediately contacted the police, who, after investigating, identified the woman as a suspect living not far from the funeral home, in the northern French town of Lievin.

After detaining the woman, a police search then linked her with a wallet that was stolen from the same funeral home earlier on August 24, the same day as the original theft.

Police also found various death notices during the search, including access codes for individual rooms at the funeral home that allow access for relatives of the recently deceased to visit outside of opening hours.

The investigation is ongoing, with a trial scheduled for April 2022, France Bleu reported.