Mortuary van stolen with body inside
Posted: 01/04/2011
FT. PIERCE, Fla. - A van thief in Ft. Pierce may have gotten more than he bargained for over the weekend. What he may not have known, is that he wasn't alone in the stolen vehicle.
Matilda Kazimir lived the last year of her life at Fort Pierce Health Care on South 13th Street. She passed away over the weekend at the age of 98.
"She was a good woman, a good mother, we appreciated her," said son John Kazimir.
Around two Sunday morning, a van from Tri-Country Mortuary went to pick up Kazimir's body. As the van's owner was pulling away, he realized that he left his cell phone behind. The van was left running with Kazimir inside. That's when someone else jumped in and took off.
"I think what this started out as was a crime of opportunity," said Ft. Pierce Sergeant Dennis McWilliams.
Kazimir's son was awakened in the middle of the night by a knock on the door. It was a Ft. Pierce police sergeant.
"He says to me 'do you got a few minutes, I have some bad news for you.' He was the one who told me the vehicle disappeared," said Kazimir.
Fortunately, the van was found abandoned a short time later a few miles away on Stanton Avenue. Matilda's body was undisturbed. Since the van was just plain white with no special markings, the thief may never have known he wasn't alone.
"Usually what happens is a body would have been placed in a body bag or receptacle and then a cover placed over that," said Sgt. McWilliams.
Kazimir said his relatives have no hard feelings against those involved, they're just relieved their mother's body was found.
"Anything could have happened. They could have driven the car into a canal somewhere or disposed of the body. Then we really would have been in bad shape," said son Nick Kazimir.
Services for Matilda will be held in Fort Pierce, but she'll laid to rest next to her husband up at the family's burial plot in New Jersey.
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