Pinellas woman hired as caretaker for 97-year-old woman stole from her, deputies say

Shirley Elizabeth Rayner, 52, of Tarpon Springs, is facing a charge of elderly exploitation. Deputies say she forged or altered checks belonging to a 97-year-old woman she was hired to help. [Pinellas County Sheriff's Office]

By Chris Tisch

A Pinellas County woman has been arrested after she forged or altered checks belonging to a 97-year-old woman she had been hired to help, Pinellas deputies report.

Shirley Elizabeth Rayner, 52, of Tarpon Springs, is facing a charge of elderly exploitation. The 97-year-old woman hired Rayner as an “in-home caretaker to assist her with activities of daily living” and paid her in check, arrest reports state.

At some point, the woman terminated Rayner’s employment. Months later, the elderly woman identified 60 checks totaling $46,903 that “appeared to have been altered after she signed it or where her signature had been forged,” arrest reports state.

Twenty-two of the checks had been cashed after Rayner was terminated and three had been cashed after the sheriff’s office began its investigation, reports state.

Rayner was booked at the Pinellas County jail Wednesday and released after posting $10,000 bail. 

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Pinellas woman hired as caretaker for 97-year-old woman stole from her, deputies say