Jewelry

Caregiver accused of stealing $57K worth of jewelry from hospice patient - KOAT Albuquerque

A Kindred Hospice caregiver is facing a charge of larceny after Albuquerque Police officers say she stole $57,000 worth of jewelry plus cash from a patient’s home.

"Something very visible disappeared, which led me to look elsewhere and pretty soon I found out everything that I had, my jewelry that I collected over the last 50 to 60 years since my wife and I had been married, was gone," Max Kohler said.

Kohler, a jewelry repair shop owner, believes Kindred Hospice caregiver Monica Bolden was pocketing jewelry while she was caring for his wife, who recently developed a heart condition.

"It's flabbergasting to think someone would do that when they're taking care of your wife who's in need of medical attention,” Kohler said.

Kohler immediately called police and reached out to the company she worked for.

Officials says Bolden had been working as a certified nursing assistant at Kindred Hospice for two months.

But court documents say they never heard from her either, and she took off with their computer tablets too.

"Terrible. Violated and all of the words that assemble with that," Kohler said.

Court documents say days later Bolden mailed the company back their tablets from San Antonio, Texas, and asked them "not to call police," Kohler said.

Police caught up with Bolden, but the jewelry was gone.

"Things that she bought me, a ring here, a chain there, a pendant that's white. I had two pendants, one made out of the first ring I'd ever given her," Kohler said.

He hopes Kindred Hospice will pay him back

"Compensation will never put memories back in your pocket. Memories will always be gone," Kohler said.