Three Indiana residents accused of looting cemetery mausoleum niches that held cremated remains have been taken into custody after authorities linked them to a string of unsettling thefts across the eastern United States.
Investigators are now calling on families to visit or contact the cemeteries where their relatives are laid to rest, warning that more memorial sites may have been targeted.
In Florida, officials say at least 20 related cases have already been documented.
“But detectives believe there could be many more,” who just don’t realize they’ve been victimized yet, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida wrote in a post on X.
Angela Christine Garret, left, Drake Lee Milam, center, and Porsche Roschell Bancroft, right, are accused of forcing their way into mausoleum niches in multiple states and taking jewelry that had been placed there as tributes to the deceased. (Orange County Sheriff’s Office)
“What a horrible person you are if you decide to steal from the dead,” a sheriff’s office spokesperson said in a video appeal seeking the public’s help in identifying those responsible.
“These three people are going to cemeteries, breaking into deceased people’s niches, and stealing their family heirlooms.”
Within days, Drake Lee Milam, 33, and Angela Garrett, 52, were arrested in Indiana, court records show. And Porsche Bancroft, 32, turned herself in at Florida’s Seminole County Jail.
In court records, Bancroft was identified as the girlfriend of Milam and the daughter of Garrett. Her arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 22 in Sanford, Florida. And a trial has been set for Feb. 8.
Milam and Garrett will be extradited to Florida to face charges, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. But their court documents were not accessible, a representative with the Seminole County Clerk of Court told News Media.
“All three face a variety of charges, including injuring or removing a tomb or monument; disturbing the contents of a grave or tomb; and grand theft over $20,000,” according to a spokesperson for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.
Drake Lee Milam is accused of teaming up with his girlfriend, Porsche Roschell Bancroft, and her mother, Angela Christine Garrett, to crack open mausoleum niches across the country and steal the jewelry and valuables left inside. (Orange County Sheriff’s Office)
Cross-country heist
A slew of mausoleum surveillance videos appear to show the trio breaking into glass-front niches, where urns of cremated remains and mementos are displayed, then removing items and strolling out, according to authorities.
“They’ve been everywhere from Oklahoma City to Minnesota to Texas [and] here in Florida,” the Orange County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said. “They visited Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina, even so far northeast as to Buffalo, New York.”
The accused grave robbers allegedly traveled through Illinois and New Jersey, too, the sheriff’s office said in an email to News Media.
“Imagine losing your wife or husband and placing their wedding ring, and yours, in the niche – only to have them stolen by thieves looking for an easy payday,” the agency spokesman said. “This will not stand. Not in Florida.”
Florida police reports list a variety of items missing from cemeteries holding great sentimental and monetary value:
A husband reported his late wife’s niche as missing their his-and-hers gold wedding rings and her Class of 1992 ring from Miami Southridge Senior High School. It was silver with a blue stone.
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A wife reported as missing a ring given to her late husband for his 25th anniversary of working for The Walt Disney Co.
A father reported the theft of his daughter’s 1972 class ring with a blue stone.
A wife reported the theft of a 22-inch gold chain with a gold anchor from her late husband’s niche. It had been his wish to be interred with the jewelry, she told police.
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Surveillance video appears to show suspects breaking into glass-front cemetery niches and removing valuables left with the remains of loved ones. (Orange County Sheriff’s Office)
A family reported missing jewelry they’d left with the remains of a beloved wife and mother, including a gold wedding band, two gold earrings, two gold rings and a gold bracelet.
A husband reported the theft of his wife’s platinum-and-diamond wedding ring and a diamond solitaire he’d given her for their engagement.
The wife of the late Charles Taaffe, former offensive coordinator for the University of Central Florida football team, reported his two gold championship rings had been taken from where his remains were interred.
The sheriff’s office is urging people nationwide to check their loved ones’ burial sites to be sure “cherished items” are still there.
In Florida, valuables worth a total of $35,000 have been discovered as being swiped from cemeteries in Orange, Seminole and Hillsborough counties, the spokesperson said.
“But the dollar amount is not what’s important,” a sheriff’s office spokesperson told News Media in an email.
“Having a loved one’s final resting place disturbed and cherished family heirlooms taken is deeply painful, and we recognize that no arrest can undo what these families have experienced.”
Detectives are working to identify more victims.
“If you have a family member resting at a cemetery, take a moment to check their niche and make sure the items you placed with them are still there,” the sheriff’s office wrote on X.
“And if you have information about this case or believe you may be a victim, please contact Central Florida Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).”
News Media attempted to contact all three defendants. Bancroft said her attorney would provide a statement but it was not received before publication. Garrett and Milam did not respond before publication.