PENN TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A personal care home employee is facing 20 charges on accusations she stole items and family heirlooms from residents of a Penn Township nursing home.
Robyn Eckels, who is employed at the Golden Heights Personal Care Home, is charged with numerous counts of theft, forgery and receiving stolen property.
Penn Township Police Chief John Otto said the personal-care home alerted police about the first forged check, and the investigation snowballed from there.
"(The suspect) merely indicated she was having tough financial times, maybe paying back some school loans and bills in general,” Otto said.
Eric Kosan said his 83-year-old mother moved to the personal-care home in June, and her wedding band vanished about a week later.
“We knew not to keep anything valuable there, but the wedding ring? Who would have thought?” Kosan said.
Channel 11 learned that Kosan’s mother was likely one of nine victims. Jewelry including wedding bands – one with the inscription “to my darling wife” – sold at pawn shops for a total of about $1,800.
When asked outside court Monday whether she had anything to say, Eckels replied, “No, I don’t want to.”
She told Judge Helen Kistler she's been battling a heroin addiction since May, but she claimed to be clean for the past month.
Kistler told Eckels she was leery to not put her in jail because she said, "She sees such a recipe here for disaster.”
Because of her cooperation and admission to police, Eckels was released on $25,000 unsecured bond, WPXI’s Melanie Gillespie reported.