Dying Kansas Woman’s Wedding Ring Stolen

January 3, 2014

For Kris Zimmerman, the anguish he’s felt over the unexpected death of his wife of 21 years has been heightened by the loss of her wedding ring, which was stolen from her finger as she lay dying.

Danielle Zimmerman suffered an aneurysm Sunday night while she was making a dinner run at a Wichita Taco Bell. Her pickup struck the speaker box and came to a stop, and her husband says he was told nine people gathered around the vehicle.

As she lay unconscious, someone took her wedding ring, purse and iPhone, The Wichita Eagle reported.

“What really appalled me – the wedding ring. How could you take somebody’s wedding ring off their finger?” he asked. “Instead of trying to help her, somebody robbed her.”

The Zimmermans had been married 21 years and had two sons. Danielle was 43 and on Social Security disability for rheumatoid arthritis, but she had never suffered a brain aneurysm before, Kris Zimmerman said.

Wichita police recovered his wife’s purse, which contained photos of her 13- and 18-year-old sons, after some children found it while sledding, Zimmerman said. The thief stole $150 in cash, some credit cards and her phone.

A police spokesman said there are no suspects in the theft.

“We just don’t have a lot of leads right now,” police Capt. Brent Allred said.

With all of the people who gathered around the pickup, someone should have seen the theft, Zimmerman said.

Danielle Zimmerman died the next day. Kris Zimmerman said he was told it was “just a fluke of nature.”