A Westmoreland County woman is facing charges after going to great lengths to fake her husband's death.

Police said Lori Shawley apparently forged two signatures from employees at the Westmoreland County Coroner's Office on a death certificate for her husband in hopes of getting a refund from a business that was hired to install a $11,999 carport at her home.

North Carolina business Viking Steel Structures contacted the Westmoreland County Coroner's Office last week about Shawley's husband, Simon Shawley. Coroner Tim Carson told KDKA-TV on Friday that after a county and state search, records confirmed Simon Shawley's death did not exist.

"There's no record of this person in our county, let alone the state," Carson told Viking Steel Structures.

The employee at Viking Steel Structures told police that Lori Shawley had reported she needed a refund of $2,790, the 20% down payment she put down for a metal garage, after the unexpected death of her husband.

The company requested that Shawley send them proof of a death certificate. But after receiving it, the company told police that something seemed suspicious.

"She just had some questions and really wasn't sure if it was legitimate," Carson said.

That's when the company sent the death certificate to Carson.

"A lot of the things were very similar. My signature was attested to it. She copied that and had my chief deputy as a witness to the certificate as well. So, she at least did her homework in terms of finding out who the coroner was, and who the chief deputy was," Carson said.

He said the certificate was printed on thick cardstock and had a seal at the bottom.

"It didn't match our seal that we use in our office," Carson said.

According to police, about two weeks after Shawley requested the refund, her husband called the department to report that "he is still very much alive," and aware that his wife reached out to the company for a refund.

"It's hard to believe that someone would call and tell another person or a business that their husband had died and then went on to produce a fake death certificate," Carson said.

Viking Steel Structures denied Shawley's claim for a refund. Shawley now faces forgery and attempted theft by deception charges. She was given an unsecured bail and is awaiting her preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 15.