Woman admitted to stealing jewelry from residents at Westmoreland County nursing home, police say

A woman accused of stealing thousands of dollars in jewelry from residents of the nursing home has admitted to the crime, leading to charges being filed by police.

In August, a family member of a patient in the memory unit at Concordia at Bethlen, also known as Bethlen Home, filed a report with the Ligonier Valley Police Department.

In the report, the family member stated that their mother's diamond ring was missing and, over the next few weeks, similar reports from others were filed about other jewelry that had vanished, all of which totaled several thousand dollars.

Ligonier Valley Police Chief Mike Matrunics says his department cross-referenced employee names and people who recently sold jewelry on a precious metals website and found a match: Kylie Ezykowsky.

Matrunics says Ezykowsky sold items to a Greensburg pawn shop, and the pawn shop legally bought them and had them melted down.

"You know, I would recommend for anyone, I have my mother in a home, I remove all those items," said Matrunics. "Any personal items, money, cash, jewelry. And you know, especially in certain care homes, where they are there temporarily or maybe long term, there is no need to have those items there. I guess in some ways they want their personal items to feel like home again. I do understand that, but if it is that valuable, keep that in mind. (Theft) is a possibility, and not always can we get the items back."

In a statement to KDKA-TV, Concordia at Bethlen said it is fully cooperating with police and taking steps to make sure this never happens again.

"Upon learning of the allegations involving the employee, we took immediate action to suspend the individual and remove her from resident care responsibilities. She has since been terminated," the statement read.

While Ezykowsky has since admitted to her crimes, she is due in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 13.