LAKESIDE, Calif. (KGTV) — A family is grief stricken after their elderly mother's wedding ring vanished last weekend.
Daughter Leanne Farrell said she took her dad to urgent care Friday and then went to work. A nurse who cares for her parents noticed Saturday the ring was missing.
"There were about 4 people in and out [when] the ring disappeared and it wasn't easy to get off," she said.
She doesn't believe her mother lost her ring. She said it's been on her hand for 61 years, only removed from her finger for a repair or the rare cleaning.
She said they tore the house apart searching for the ring and found nothing.
"I can't be here 24/7 for them you know? Because I have to work and you hope the people that come in to care for them, care for them like you would," she said wiping away tears.
The ring went missing just a day after her parent's 61st wedding anniversary. Her father, Ken Clody's, leg was amputated after a fall two years ago and recently had to change the hours caregivers come and go to ensure he and his wife are taken care of. He also suffers Primary Lateral Sclerosis, making it hard to communicate.
Farrell explained her mother has dementia and sleeps most of the day, "she can't explain anything, she can't explain who took it, when they took it, because you can see she's not with us really much anymore."
Her father said he bought the ring for $500, in 1957.
Farrell described the ring as two white gold bands soldered together with three diamonds, the center just larger than the others. Farrell said it's not the price they're upset by, but the sentimental value.
"Oh I just hope they put it in an envelope and mail it back, the money doesn't matter just the ring," she said crying.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department is investigating the loss. They have a detective on the case interviewing the caregivers who were in the home at the time the ring went missing. 10News spoke with the care-giving company who said they interviewed their employees and said those employees hadn't seen the ring.
10News did not name the company as law enforcement said they are not suspected of any wrongdoing.
Clody said via email several other items went missing during the same time period, but that they were easily replaceable.
The health care company called 10News late Thursday saying a couple of their employees said Mrs. Clody would take the ring off and play with it and leave it places.
