Investigators recovered cremated human remains, an iPad, shoes and other items stolen during a burglary of a South Whidbey home this summer, according to court documents.
Deputies arrested a 33-year-old Langley woman who was living in a cabin where most of the stolen items were found.
Prosecutors charged Emily Magdalena-Higman in Island County Superior Court Sept. 4 with identity theft in the second degree, three counts of possession of stolen property in the second degree, forgery and theft in the second degree.
Magdalena-Higman appeared in court Sept. 3 for a preliminary hearing. The judge set her bail at $25,000.
On Aug. 27, a deputy with the Island County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a burglary at a home on Mapleglen Road in Langley. He found that a downstairs office window had been broken out and the house ransacked.
Among the items that were missing included the cremated remains of the victim’s husband, an Apple iPad Air, a handgun, luggage, Sperry shoes, prescription medicine, jewelry and a designer purse, the deputy’s report states.
The homeowner was able to use the Apple “Find My Device” function to track her iPad to a home on Woodbine Road. The deputy was familiar with the property, which has several small, cabin-like structures, one of which was home to Magdalena-Higman, the report states. The deputy noted that she has previous arrests for theft and trafficking of stolen property.
Deputies went to the property, but Magdalena-Higman went inside her home and refused to come to the door. The deputies, however, noted that several items from the burglary were scattered on the front porch while a packing slip from the victim’s house could be seen inside Magdalena-Higman’s car, the deputy’s report states.
Based on the evidence, the deputy obtained a search warrant and arrested Magdalena-Higman. Many of the stolen items were recovered from inside the cabin, including the iPad, a luggage case, the shoes, prescription bottles, a bank card and the cremated remains, the deputy wrote.
In a separate incident, a staff member at a charitable organization reported in January that a check sent to the landlord had been altered a couple of months prior. A deputy’s report states that the fraudulent check had been cashed by Magdalena-Higman.
