US police have arrested two people and charged a third over an alleged scheme to steal jewellery and valuables from cemetery niches across ten states, targeting the cremated remains of the dead. Drake Milam, 33, and his girlfriend's mother, Angela Garrett, 52, face multiple charges, while Milam's girlfriend, Porsche Bancroft, 32, has been charged with conspiracy; all three have pleaded not guilty. The case has drawn attention for its scale and the distress caused to grieving families whose loved ones' memorials were disturbed and heirlooms taken.

Investigators say the pair struck at sites in Florida, Texas, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, New York and New Jersey, with at least 20 incidents linked to them in Florida alone, worth more than $35,000. Surveillance footage allegedly showed Milam prising open glass niche enclosures with a tool, and affidavits detail thefts including $25,000 in jewellery from a Woodlawn funeral home and items from a former university football coach's niche. The Seminole County Sheriff's Office opened its investigation in May after multiple reports at Queen of Angels Cemetery, later linking the case to a rental car and fingerprint evidence; Milam and Garrett were arrested in Indiana and booked into Seminole County Jail on 31 August.