Family says mother's rings disappeared after she passed away

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A grieving daughter said her mother's rings went missing after she was transported from a mortuary to a funeral home in Ponca City.

Debbie McEntire's mother passed away on January 23 while living at a nursing home in Oklahoma City.

Adding to her grief, McEntire said her mother's three diamond rings are nowhere to be found.

"I really honestly trusted everybody involved," said McEntire. "My brother is the one that took the phone call from the nurse there, and she wanted to make sure because my mother had a set of her wedding rings and then my grandmother's ring on her finger."

McEntire said the nurse took a photo of the rings to make sure they truly belonged to her mother. Both McEntire and her brother confirmed they were the rings.

"After that, they had called the Oklahoma Mortuary Service to come get her and so this gentleman came, and then the hospice nurse that was in charge of my mom showed him the rings on her fingers and had him sign a declaration page stating that 'you witnessed seeing these three rings' and signed off on it," said McEntire.

McEntire said her mother's body was at Oklahoma Mortuary Services for several days, then taken to Trout Funeral Home in Ponca City. But, when McEntire went to pick up the rings, she noticed a problem.

"When we got there, they were not her rings, not at all," said McEntire.

The three rings that Trout Funeral Home brought out to McEntire left her in complete shock.

"They were kind of concerned too and said they were going to take care of it and call down there and find out what's going on," said McEntire.

The funeral home said those were the rings brought to them by Oklahoma Mortuary Services.

McEntire has been calling for answers daily.

"The owner, Amy, had called me and we discussed the situation and she had told me that the gentleman that picked my mom up verified that the rings he took off for her were the rings that Trout got. I don't understand how that could be when he signed the declaration and looked at those rings and verified exactly what all three of us verified," said McEntire.

News 4 tried to contact Oklahoma Mortuary Services, but when we called, the owner hung up.

We attempted to call two more times and went to their office building but were not allowed in.

Trout Funeral Home sent News 4 the following statement:

While it is our funeral home's privacy policy not to comment on personal matters of the people and families we serve, we are in communication with the family and other involved parties to help bring this matter to resolution as quickly as possible.

Our understanding is that the reported incident allegedly occurred in the Oklahoma City Metro area and did not involve our staff, or our facilities in Ponca City.

We appreciate your understanding and patience as we address this situation with the utmost respect and confidentiality as we are currently working with authorities on this matter.

Our Primary commitment remains to support and care for the families we serve during their time of need

Trout Funeral Home

The Ponca City Police Department told McEntire they are handing this case over to the Oklahoma City Police Department.