COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Editor's Note: The video used in this story is from previous coverage of this topic.
A Cobb County couple has been formally charged and accused of stealing and dumping a baby's ashes.
A Cobb County grand jury indicted the pair on Feb. 13 on three counts: malicious removal of a dead body from a grave, removal of a dead body from a grave and abandonment of a dead body.
Warrants filed in March 2023 state that back in January 2023, Wellstar Kennestone employees were working in the hospital's linen sorting facility when they allegedly stole a small, black and gold urn containing cremated remains of the victim's baby and took it home. The two are also accused of disposing of the remains, but neither the indictment nor warrants specify exactly how that would have been done.
Documents from the Magistrate Court of Cobb County explain that the pair was a married couple. The warrants originally show the two were accused of theft by taking an item valued at more than $1,500 and the wanton or malicious removal of a dead body from a grave or disturbance of contents of a grave. However, it looks like the couple was only formally charged with the removal and abandonment of a dead body, as there is no mention in the indictment of theft charges.
Wellstar previously confirmed with 11Alive that the employees have since been fired and did not work in clinical services.
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