Mother, daughter among trio sought in heirloom thefts from cemeteries in 9 states
Florida authorities are searching for a mother, her daughter and a third suspect accused of crossing state lines to steal jewelry and other sentimental items from cemetery mausoleums. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has described the group as “tomb raiders” in connection with a string of thefts across at least nine states.
Investigators say the suspects broke into niches — the small compartments in mausoleum walls that hold cremated remains — and took keepsakes that relatives had left beside the urns. Cpl. Cole Brazee said the trio seemed to treat those memorial spaces as targets during what he called “a tour of the eastern half of the United States.”
“Typically, in these mausoleums inside of a niche, their urn is inside of it,” Brazee said in a video statement on Aug. 12. “Their loved ones will leave like some jewelry that meant something to them in that niche with their remains.”
Authorities identified the suspects as Drake Lee Milam, 33; Porsche Bancroft, 32; and her mother, Angela Garrett, 52. All three are from the Indianapolis area, according to the sheriff’s office. They are wanted on Florida warrants, and if arrested outside the state they could be extradited to Florida.
“They’re all from the Indianapolis, Indiana, area,” Brazee said. “However, they could be anywhere on the eastern half of the United States.”
The investigation involves about 20 cases in Florida, stretching from the Orlando and Winter Park area to the Tampa region. Brazee said the same group is believed to have hit cemeteries in other states, including Oklahoma, Minnesota, Texas, Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina and New York. Authorities suspect more victims have yet to realize what happened.
For families, the loss goes far beyond missing property. A ring left with a spouse’s ashes or a bracelet placed beside a child’s urn is tied to memory in a way that no insurance policy can replace. To learn that a stranger pried open a niche and walked away with those pieces adds a layer of violation to an already painful loss.
The case also points to a broader vulnerability. Cemeteries are meant to be open and accessible, and many mausoleum buildings are left unlocked during the day. That makes it difficult to prevent determined thieves from moving through a memorial space without drawing much attention.
Brazee encouraged families to visit the resting places of their loved ones and make sure any mementos are still in place. Anyone who finds something missing should contact local law enforcement, he said.
The sheriff’s office asked for the public’s help in locating the three suspects. The Central Florida Crimeline is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest. Tips can be called in to 800-423-TIPS (8477).
“If you see them, if you know who they are, you know where they are, please call Crimeline and turn them in,” Brazee said.
The Florida allegations come months after another grave-robbery case drew national attention. In January, authorities in Pennsylvania charged Jonathan Gerlach, 34, with stealing more than 100 sets of human remains from Mount Moriah Cemetery, a historic rural cemetery near Philadelphia. He was charged with burglary, abuse of a corpse and desecration of burial places after a monthslong investigation into burglaries that occurred there between November 2025 and January 2026.
Prosecutors said investigators found full or partial sets of human remains, including skulls and bones, at Gerlach’s home and in a storage unit. Delaware County District Attorney Tanner Rouse described the scene in stark terms.
“Detectives walked into a horror movie come to life in that home. It is truly, in the most literal sense of the word, horrific. I grieve for those who are upset by this, who are going through this, who are trying to figure out if it is in fact one of their loved ones,” Rouse said at the time.
The Florida case, by contrast, has not involved the theft of human remains, at least as far as authorities have said. But it is a reminder that memorial spaces can be targeted not only by vandals, but by thieves looking for objects that carry no price tag and cannot be replaced.