Police looking for person who stole ID, money, from terminally ill Manhattan woman

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Authorities are asking for the public's help in finding the person who stole the identity of a terminally-ill Manhattan fashion executive.

It was all the money in the world Kate Sullivan had, and it was stolen from her bank account as she lay dying in a hospital bed in Manhattan.

But the story isn't really about money, and Kate Sullivan wasn't really even the victim.

What the thief stole, along with about $14,000, were the last minute Kate's family had with her on Earth.

Farah Sullivan takes care of Baccio now. The dog belonged to Farah's sister Kate, who died in September after a long battle with cancer. She was just 50 years old.

Ms. Sullivan was at Kate's bedside at the end, when the phone rang.

"It was the bank manager from Freeport, Long Island, and he asked if Kate, my sister, had just been in the bank trying to withdraw a large sum of money. And I said, 'No, my sister is on life support,'" Sullivan said.

According to police, this woman walked into Kate's bank and nearly emptied her account: $9,200 gone and the woman provided identification.

Police say the same woman opened up credit cards in Kate's name as well, and maxed them out to the tune of nearly $4,000.

These were Kate's final moments, she would die the next day, but Farah had to leave her sister's side.

"Immediately I panicked and thought someone is cleaning out my sister's bank account," Sullivan said.

And just like that the money was gone. Farah Sullivan says she'll do anything she can to help police capture the woman in the photos.

She doesn't care so much about the money that was stolen. What the thief really took was far more important than that.

"She sort of robbed by family of our last hours with my sister, and our time with her, our energy was supposed to go to our sister and she stole that," Sullivan said.