The suspect reportedly stole the vehicle after the driver had stopped to enter JPS Hospital in Fort Worth.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Fort Worth police arrested a woman Tuesday evening after she allegedly stole a mortuary van with a corpse still inside.
Police say they were called at about 7 p.m. to John Peter Smith Hospital, 1500 S. Main Street, in reference to the stolen van.
Officers found an employee of a mortuary service had driven the vehicle to the hospital to retrieve the body of a dead person, police say. When the driver left the van, which already had one body inside, the suspect stole the van and fled the parking lot.
Police later found the stolen vehicle, with the body still inside, in the 2600 block of Park Place Avenue intact without damage, officials said. The suspect was found soon afterward and taken to the Fort Worth City Jail.
Officials identified the suspect as Valerie Traglor-Ellis, 35.
The van and the corpse inside were returned to the driver of the mortuary service.