Federal investigators are on the trail of a Polish immigrant who has stolen priceless pieces of jewelry from nursing homes across the country and maybe even Canada. She even stole from a nursing home here in Lexington.
The woman has allegedly stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry in 10 different states.
A relative of someone living at The Lafayette on Mason Headley took a photo of the woman back in July, saying that something just didn’t seem right about her.
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“Who would’ve thought that? Who would’ve thought they’d come to a retirement home of old people and rob them?” Glendola Runis asked. Runis said that when she encountered the woman, she rushed out speaking in a heavy accent. It was then Runis noticed several rings and necklaces were missing.
Detectives in Lexington were originally struggling to come up with a name of the mystery woman.
Detective Mark Thomas with the Lexington Police Department said it wasn’t until Thursday that there was a break in the case. He got a tip from a detective in Gainesville, Fl. That detective had linked the Lexington photo of the woman, to video footage in North Carolina.
Same woman, same crime.
After that, they were able to link her to heists in Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota and Texas.
“We believe her birthplace is Poland, she’s immigrated to Ontario Canada and then crossed the border into the United States,” said Thomas.
Authorities in Dallas have been tracking her since 2005 with no luck.
“Being of polish descent she’s able to come up with a lot of names, half a page worth that we’re starting to track these individual names from one area to the next,” said Thomas.
Authorities hope they can link her to other cases of stolen jewelry at nursing homes in Kentucky.
Police believe she is working with an older woman and a man who drives their getaway car.
Detectives stress that people must call immediately if they see the suspects.
