Woman charged with stealing 50 glass eyes
OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — Police charged a woman Friday with stealing 50 antique glass eyes from a hospital display case on Christmas Eve.
Melissa Jane Wink, 36, of Owensboro, was charged with theft by unlawful taking over $300.
A surveillance camera recorded the theft from an exhibit of medical artifacts at Owensboro Medical Health System. A picture of the suspect was publicly released several days later.
The eyes were valued at $2,500. The hospital had mistakenly reported the eyes were worth $100,000, which was actually the value of the exhibit collection. The eyes were recovered at a house Wink was staying in.
Police Detective Ed Krahwinkel said he wasn't sure why someone would steal the eyes; there isn't high demand on the black market for them.
"Honestly, I don't think she knew what to do with them," Krahwinkel said. "Being a high profile case — and a used item — I think she was stuck with them."
The glass eyes were a gift to the hospital from Owensboro physician Barney Elliott, who bought the glass eyes from a dealer in South Carolina about 10 years ago. He said they were most likely made at the beginning of the 20th century or earlier. The eyes came in a variety of colors and even included bloodshot or jaundiced tints so they would match the wearer's other eye.
"I'm glad to hear they're back," Elliott said. "It's a good display, and I think the public will enjoy them."
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I am a woman, I make mistakes. I make them often. God has given me a talent and that's it. ~ Jill Scott
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