A local family grieving their mother's death now wants to find the thief who stole her jewelry after she died.
Just hours after Carol Arbit died her family realized the diamond earrings she always wore were gone -- stolen from her body.
Arbit's daughter, Sheri Purdy, says she's upset that someone could be so heartless.
"How can you do this to a deceased person and to a family. We're sick over it, sick over it," she said.
Purdy is horrified by what happened to her 64-year-old mother after she died suddenly in her Stoughton home. Artbit allegedly became the victim of a crime.
Purdy says her mom had her favorite 1.5 carat diamond studs in her ears when she died.
"She loved them, wore them every day," Purdy said.
But when her body was released from the State Medical Examiner's Office in Boston the diamonds were gone.
"She had the earrings in her ears when we saw her leave the house. Now they're gone," Purdy said. "How does that happen?"
Family members say they asked if they could take Arbit's jewelry off before here body was taken to the medical examiner's office, but they were told no.
According to a police report, that conversation was witnessed by a Stoughton police detective, but that detective doesn't remember what type of earrings or how many she was wearing.
"I never thought we'd have to take a picture of my deceased mother's ears to prove they were in her ears," Purdy said.
Arbit's body was transported to the medical examiner's office by Mortuary Services of Weymouth, which is contracted by the state. According to the State Medical Examiner's Office, when they catalogued Arbit's belongings the diamonds weren't there. Stoughton police are investigating.
"We know we're not going to get the earrings back," Purdy said. "We just don't want it to happen to anyone else. It's not right, just not right."
The owner of Mortuary Services said he's cooperating with police and wants to get to the bottom of this also.
A spokesperson for the State Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Medical Examiner's Office, says the diamonds were never in the possession of the state and said this is a police matter.
Police are going to look for the diamonds at local pawn shops. According to an appraisal by the family the diamonds were worth $2,300.
