Sep 2, 2014 2 min read

Sisters who were allowed to temporarily leave Washington County jail to attend their great-grandmother’s funeral failed to return to the facility, resulting in a Washington County judge signing warrants for their arrests.

Judge John DiSalle permitted Kimberly Dianne Kover, 25, and Kelly Marie Kover, 24, to go to the Aug. 23 funeral of Lenore Vankirk, 99, of Washington, who reared them.

They did not report to the jail afterward as required by the judge, so he issued bench warrants for their arrest and ordered information about them be entered in the National Crime Information Center database.

Kimberly Kover’s last address is listed in court documents as 172 Prigg Road, Canton Township. Before the funeral, she was in jail awaiting transport to a state prison so she could serve a sentence of 15 to 30 months after pleading guilty to using a stolen debit card to purchase cigarettes and gasoline. Originally placed on probation, she was found in July to have violated the terms of her restrictive treatment program by testing positive for heroin.

Kelly Kover’s last address listed with the adult probation office was 242 Bench Ave., Canton. According to the terms of her probation, she was to remain at that address, but her probation officer alleged in May that she was found sleeping in a van parked at 920 Weirich Ave., and she was returned to the county jail.

She pleaded guilty in April to defiant trespass and unauthorized use of a credit card stolen in May 2012 from the home of a Canton resident and was placed on probation for 18 months.

In a letter to the judge, the sisters said they turned to drugs and alcohol because they were sexually abused as children before seeking refuge at the home of their great-grandmother.