Hospital workers stole urn with baby’s ashes and dumped them, Georgia authorities say
A baby’s ashes were stolen from a Georgia hospital room and dumped like trash.
Months later, two former employees have been charged, court documents show.
The husband-wife duo were accused of swiping a black and gold urn containing the cremated remains in January while they worked at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, according to arrest warrants obtained by McClatchy News.
The urn had been tucked inside a teddy bear gifted to Kieran Massey and his fiancee’, WAGA reported.
“We had a stillbirth back in August, so the ashes was the only thing we had left of her,” Massey told the news station. “Losing her plus the ashes was a big heartbreak.”
On Jan. 25, the accused employees found the teddy bear and removed the urn, according to warrants dated March 21. Both were working in the hospital’s linen sorting facility the day the stuffed animal and the urn inside it went missing, investigators said.
Massey and his fiancee’ had brought their baby’s remains with them for emotional support during a visit to the hospital, WSB-TV reported. He said his fiancee’ left her room to take a shower and when she returned, the bear holding their baby’s ashes was gone.
Hospital staff found the bear in a trash bin later that day, but the urn was still missing, according to the news station.
An investigation into the incident revealed the now-former hospital workers took the urn home and disposed of the ashes “in an unknown manner,” according to the warrant.
Both were arrested and charged with theft by taking and malicious removal of a dead body, online records show. They were booked into jail and later released on bond.
McClatchy News reached out to Wellstar for comment April 4 and was awaiting a response.
Marietta is about 20 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta.
This story was originally published April 4, 2023 at 12:04 PM with the headline "Hospital workers stole urn with baby’s ashes and dumped them, Georgia authorities say."