A San Diego family says a 17-year-old with terminal Stage 4 pancreatic cancer had her purse stolen from her hospital bed while she was in surgery at UC San Diego Health in Hillcrest, along with irreplaceable photos of her late father that were inside. Relatives say the bag also held a wallet, cash, ID, jewelry and other personal items the teen is desperate to get back.
Kaleena Morquecho, the girl's sister, told FOX 5 that staff initially floated the idea that the missing belongings might have turned up in the linens and that no incident report was filed at the time. Morquecho said the family later used Apple's Find My app and saw that a pair of AirPods registered to Sahara appeared to be pinging from a residence in Lemon Grove. According to the family, a San Diego County Sheriff's deputy was sent to that address and the person living there works at the hospital where Sahara was treated.
In a statement, UC San Diego Health said, "Privacy laws prevent us from commenting on whether any individual is or has been a patient at UC San Diego Health," and added that it is unable to comment on matters that may involve personnel issues or ongoing investigations, according to FOX 5. The hospital said it takes concerns about the safety and security of patients and visitors very seriously.
Family Tracked Items to Lemon Grove
The New York Post reports that deputies who checked the name of the person at the Lemon Grove residence found she allegedly had four prior arrests tied to theft and burglary. According to the outlet, the family is now focused on recovering the photos of their late father, which they describe as irreplaceable.
Investigation and Legal Context
San Diego County authorities told reporters the case has been referred to the San Diego Police Department, which will investigate and decide whether to forward charges to prosecutors. If charges are pursued, the conduct alleged here would most commonly be evaluated under California's theft and burglary statutes, notably California Penal Code §484 for theft and §459 for burglary, which set out the elements prosecutors must prove.
For now, the family says their priority is getting the photos back and understanding why hospital staff did not file an incident report sooner, and they are awaiting any response or update from SDPD. We reached out to SDPD for comment and to UC San Diego Health for further details, but did not receive additional information beyond the earlier hospital statement.
