Family: Late mother's wedding bands missing after hospital visit

KENSINGTON (WPVI) -- A family from the Kensington section of Philadelphia is mourning the loss of their mother. But beyond planning her memorial, they're also trying to solve a mystery.

70 -year-old Juana Reyes was a Kensington great grandmother who loved her family and the wedding bands her late husband of 50 years, Juan, gave her.

"My mom not being able to see my dad, but her seeing those rings always put a smile to her face. Ever since my father put them on her, she never took those rings off," Reyes' son, Luis said.

Luis says two weeks ago he rushed his mother to Temple University Hospital's Episcopal Campus with severe head pains.

Paramedics transported the woman to the main hospital in North Philadelphia where she later died from a brain aneurysm.

During that ride in the ambulance from Episcopal, Luis says his sister noticed their mother's wedding rings were gone.

"Those rings mean a lot to us. That is a piece of her heart that we would like to have back," Luis said.

Luis says more than $250 were also missing, cash their mother planned to go shopping with later.

But family members only care about the rings.

Luis Reyes filed a complaint with Episcopal's ER.

Temple University Health said in a statement to Action News the system "takes very serious any complaints of missing patient valuables and has a protocol in place to address those complaints. A thorough investigation was completed in this instance and our findings were communicated to the family."

Luis says he's heard nothing.

"It just hurts because we've been in the community for so many years and Temple has been our number 1 hospital, this is the way they repay us," Luis said.

Luis says he will continue the search for answers.

Last week, his family buried their mother without those precious wedding bands.