Unsuspecting employees

Women took corpse in car to withdraw money

(Bild: Ashtabula Police Department. Peter Atkins/stock.adobe.com Krone KREATIV,)

Two women in the US state of Ohio behaved with unbelievable audacity after their 80-year-old roommate died. In order to get their hands on his money posthumously, they put his body in their car and drove to the bank with him. With this action, the ladies were able to scam 900 dollars (around 730 euros) at a drive-in counter.

Loreen Bea Feralo (55) and Karen Casbohm (63) didn't take it too seriously after their elderly flatmate Douglas Layman died in the apartment they shared in Ashtabula. The women, aged 55 and 63, lifted his body into the passenger seat of a car. They then took the morbid cargo to the drive-through counter of a bank. 

Feralo and Casbohm were authorized to withdraw money from the deceased's bank branch as long as the account holder was in the car. The bank employees did not notice that the account holder was already deceased - so they handed over hundreds of dollars to the roommates. 

Police chief: Body "simply left behind" in hospital
Afterwards, they had no further use for the body and left it in the emergency room of a hospital without explanation. The staff were at a loss as to who the deceased was. "They left without giving the hospital any information. They just left him behind," said police chief Robert Stell, stunned by the actions. 

"Gross mistreatment of a corpse"
One of the women finally contacted the hospital, whereupon the deceased was identified. The police then went to Layman's apartment, where one of the suspects had lived for several years and the other for a few months, and arrested both of them. The women are accused of theft and "gross mistreatment of a corpse".

Suspects already known to the police
The women have a long criminal record: Casbohm has a record of theft, drug offenses and trespassing, among other things. Feralo has already attracted attention in the past for assault, drug offenses, trespassing, drunk driving and theft.