Two teens charged in theft of cremated remains

PALM BAY -- Two teenagers are accused of stealing cremated remains and rosary beads from a Palm Bay cemetery during the weekend.

Tara Lea Forste, 18, and Christopher Dean Chauncey, 17, both of Naples, were arrested Monday night and charged with felony counts of burglary, grand theft, disturbing the contents of a tomb and abuse of a human body.

The theft was discovered Sunday when a woman walked into a mausoleum at Fountainhead Memorial Park and Funeral Home and discovered the facility had been vandalized. The cremated remains of a woman, a set of rosary beads and a gold ring were recovered Sunday when two witnesses came forward, police said.

"It's beyond normal human reasoning as to why people would treat deceased people with disrespect," said Fountainhead general manager Pam Gehl.

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