Widow says late husband’s wedding band went missing at Bayfront Health in Port Charlotte

A North Port woman is mourning the loss of her husband to COVID-19 while also battling the hospital where he died due to a cherished belonging that went missing.

Joseph Tornabene was hospitalized for weeks at Bayfront Health in Port Charlotte.

He went to the hospital with his wedding band on, but when he passed away Jeanne Tornabene said she never saw it again.

“We always did cruises and trips,” Jeanne said. “And he loved his work. He was a school bus driver.”

Joseph was never without a smile.

That is how Jeanne will remember him, filled with joy.

After Joseph was admitted to the hospital, everything “went haywire,” Jeanne said.

“His kidneys shut down,” Jeanne said. “It was like a, like a cyclone storm.”

She took a photo of him in his hospital bed 12 days before he died.

In the photograph, her husband was wearing his wedding band.

After his death in December, the hospital transferred Joseph’s remains to the funeral home. He didn’t have any personal items on him.

His ring was nowhere to be found.

“Not only was it my father’s wedding band, but it was my husband’s as well,” Jeanne said. “So how do you put a value on there?”

Jeanne said she doesn’t know where the wedding band can be.

“Anything is possible,” Jeanne said. “I don’t want to accuse anybody. But I really don’t know.”

WINK News reached out to Bayfront Health. A spokesman acknowledged the request but did not return a request for comment.

Jeanne filed a report with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office. She wants answers.

“It’s not even about replacing it,” Jeanne said. “It’s about them trying to tell me that it wasn’t their responsibility.”

More than anything, Jeanne wants her husband’s wedding band back.