James Allen News Center

Early Wednesday morning, thieves broke into a funeral home in Goodlettsville and stole a pair of diamond earrings and a wedding ring off the deceased body of a local woman just hours before her funeral started.

As it stands, there are very few leads regarding the robbery, but police are hopeful that someone will come forward with information.

Mary Ann Morgan, general manager of Forest Lawn Funeral Home and Cemetery, said the burglary was a first for the funeral home. "It really just makes me sick that anyone would do something like this. The hurt that this person or persons caused the family, there's just no forgiveness for that," she expressed.

Morgan said the body of Robbie Sue Williams, 79, was the only body inside the funeral home at the time. Besides the stolen jewelry, the body wan`t tampered with.

In addition to the jewelry, two flat-screen televisions, two computers, a sound system and a white 2004 Ford van were snatched.

Larry Kirby - a neighbor of Williams' - said he had known her for nearly14 years. "It's terrible that this happened to her. But, it's also terrible for Forest Lawn. It's where my parents and grandparents are buried and it's where I'm going to be buried. You've got to be a low-class person to do something like this. I think stealing off the dead goes beyond bad. It's just wicked," he lamented.

According to Police Chief Richard Pope, the thieves broke into the funeral home between 1-1:30 a.m. through a back window and triggered a silent alarm. At least two more alarms were triggered inside the building as the burglars moved from room to room, but the security company failed to notify anyone about it.

Pope would not release the name of the security company, but stated that the company was not under investigation: "We don't have any reason to suspect that anyone at the alarm company was involved," Pope said. "I think whoever was on duty didn't follow procedures. If they had called us, there is a strong likelihood that we could have caught the burglars inside the building. It would have saved the family a lot of grief."