Stolen wedding rings returned to family

In September, daughter Mary Seelye talked about the engagement ring and wedding band that were taken from the body of her deceased 89-year-old mother, Evelyn DeFlavis. (Robert E. Klein for The Boston Globe)

The wedding rings that were stolen from the fingers of a woman who died in a Brockton hospital have been returned anonymously, a relative of the woman said.

Alanna Doonan said last night that someone anonymously mailed her mother's rings to Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center on Monday, weeks after they were stolen.

She believes the widespread publicity over the horrendous act, plus the investigations opened by police and hospital staff, persuaded the culprit to turn in the rings.

Whatever the reason, she is just glad the family has them back.

"We're overjoyed. It's a relief," said Doonan, the oldest daughter of Evelyn DeFlavis.

She said the return brings only a bit of solace back to her family, because they could not bury the rings with her mother as planned.

"But it's just a relief to have them back," she said. "In the beginning, we didn't think anybody was doing much about it, but obviously they were."

DeFlavis died at 89 years old Sept. 10 in the hospital, and before the funeral director could retrieve her body from the morgue, the rings had gone missing.

DeFlavis had worn the rings for the 52 years she was married to her husband, Frank. He died six years ago, but she continued to wear them, a wedding ring of a gold band with three diamonds on top, and her engagement ring, which had a single diamond.

Monique Aleman, a hospital spokesman, said soon after the rings went missing that the hospital would open an internal investigation and that the hospital has a specific protocol for postmortem care and keeps a list of any hospital staff member who conducts such care. She said the hospital's security staff interviewed several employees about the rings.

"This is a very sensitive, sentimental issue, and we are working diligently to accommodate the family in any way that we can," Aleman said in September.

Milton Valencia can be reached at mvalencia@globe.com.