Mortuary transport driver arrested on suspicion of stealing dead woman’s ring

A mortuary transport employee is facing criminal charges for allegedly stealing a ring from the hand of a deceased woman, authorities said.

The ring was reported missing by the woman’s family after her body was taken from a Riverside hospital, where she died in September, to a mortuary in Orange County, authorities said.

Riverside police detectives tracked down the ring, valued at several thousand dollars, to a pawn shop in Los Angeles County, authorities said. They determined it had been pawned by Mark Anthony Zuniga, 27, of Downey, who was employed by the mortuary transport company at the time of the theft.

Zuniga was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of removing articles from a dead body, which is a felony, authorities said.

Riverside police spokesman Ryan Railsback said Zuniga apparently acted by himself in the alleged theft.

Zuniga was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center and released pending a court appearance, authorities said. He was fired from his job at the transport company, police said.

Detectives returned the ring to the deceased woman’s family, police said.

Anyone with additional information about the investigation is asked to contact the Det. Edward Vazquez at the Riverside Police Department at (951) 353-7955.