Con artists scam woman out of necklace containing late daughter’s ashes in East Los Angeles
EAST LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Investigators are working to track down a pair of con artists who scammed an elderly woman out of a cherished necklace in East Los Angeles. Little did the thieves know, the necklace carries the ashes of the woman’s daughter, a retired Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy who was recently killed in a car crash.
“They have no soul, they have no soul,” said David Guerrero, the woman’s son. “To rip off elderly people and to say to pray for their own mom that’s in the hospital — they just have no heart and no soul. They’re just, they’re terrible people.”
Guerrero says his mother, Esther, returned home from shopping on Monday afternoon and was approached by a couple who pulled up next to her in the 300 block of South Gerhart Avenue.
While the driver was asking for directions, a woman in the backseat got out and asked the 75-year-old for a strange favor.
“My mom’s in the hospital. I need you to pray for my mom,” Esther told Eyewitness News, describing the request.
The woman then hugged Esther and put a cheap necklace around her neck, thanking her and then leaving.
A few minutes later, David Guerrero said his mom noticed her own gold necklace was missing.
“When she was putting the gold chain on her, she stole her real chain off of her neck,” David explained.
But it wasn’t just a necklace that the scammers stole. Inside the cross on the chain were the ashes of Esther’s daughter, a retired L.A. County sheriff’s deputy.
Veronika Garcia, 54, was killed in a traffic accident in Idaho earlier this year. As a deputy, she spent most of her career in East L.A.
“I don’t care about the chain,” Esther said. “I want the ashes of my daughter.”
The Guerrero Family is holding out hope that someone will recognize the car involved in the theft and report it to the sheriff’s department.
“My sister’s ashes were there, so that’s why it hurts even more,” David said. “I just hope they didn’t sell it or something that we can give it to my mother.”
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