Transport workers accused of stealing from dead people | KGET TV 17 (SAD)

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Print Story Published: 4/01 7:13 pm Share Updated: 4/01 7:41 pm The Sheriff's Department says two employees of Premier Transport Service, which is used by the Coroner's office to transport bodies, were caught stealing. Deputies say 34-year-old Christopher Leake and 20-year-old Crescencio Reynosa, took $65 from a dead man in Boron while they were transporting his body to Bakersfield. Both men were arrested on misdemeanor charges of petty theft. They had worked for the transportation company for about two years and were fired Thursday. The company has been contracted with the Sheriffs Department for the last ten years and this is the first time officials say this has happened. "The individual was very well liked and respected in the business and it came to a surprise to us, you know, there is a very high standard when you are working with law enforcement," said Ron Stanton, General Manager, Premier Transport Service. Michelle Lowe of Bakersfield fears her mother may have also been the victim of theft when she died last August. Lowe says the same company transported her mother to the Coroner's office and her jewelry was missing, a diamond cross necklace and earrings, she says, her mother never took off. "I feel like they stole from my mom when she's helpless and there is nothing I can do to change it," said Lowe. Lowe contacted the Sheriff's Department and was told the employees who were arrested Thursday were not the same ones who transported her mother. The department adds they do get calls about jewelry and missing money, but it's often difficult to prove if it was stolen because there are no pictures of the body.