Hunt is on for woman who stole ring from dead grandma’s finger in Odessa

The crime was as macabre as it was senseless.

A woman talked her way into an Odessa funeral home under false pretenses -- she told the director she had to use the bathroom -- and proceeded to steal a ring off the finger of a great-grandmother.

But the thief didn’t count on a couple of things: First, the Sunset Funeral Home has surveillance cameras and her despicable act was caught on video, and now it’s been shared on social media for all the world to see.

And second, the ring she pulled off Lois Hicks’ lifeless hand Friday was plastic. It cost a whopping $10, family members told the Odessa police.

But that hasn’t stopped the social media outrage, and the mystery woman clad in brown sweater and sweatpants has become public enemy No. 1.

Vel McKee, Hicks’ daughter, told the Odessa American on Saturday that the ring was meant to symbolize her mother’s love and devotion to her husband, Gayle, who died three years ago. Hicks, 88, was the mother of 10 children “and (had) many grandchildren and great grandchildren,” according to her obituary.

Odessa police Cpl. Steve LeSueur told USA Today the case is being investigated, “even though the ring was a $10 plastic ring. Theft of a corpse, regardless of whether it’s $5 or $5,000 is still an automatic felony.”

LeSueuer said that while investigators had received a lot of tips, police have yet to make any arrests in the case.

“It makes me sick to my stomach,” McKee told the Odessa American on Saturday after family members watched the surveillance video. “Horrible. I hope they catch her.”

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 11:05 AM with the headline "Hunt is on for woman who stole ring from dead grandma’s finger in Odessa."