PALMDALE — A woman used threats of a curse to scare a 12-year-old girl into stealing more than $10,000 worth of jewelry from her parents, officials said.

Jackeline Lopez, 42, of Palmdale was arrested Sept. 17 and booked on suspicion of extortion after orchestrating the jewelry thefts over the course of a month, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said in a written statement. Detectives are seeking any possible additional victims, as well as a man photographed helping Lopez pawn jewelry.
The young victim befriended Lopez’s daughter in August and began sneaking away to visit the Lopez home, Deputy Robbie Royster said.
“During their discussions, the suspect claimed she was able to see into the victim’s future,” Royster said.

“Suspect Lopez allegedly conducted these psychic readings in her home’s garage which she had decorated with numerous candles, chalk outlines, black caldrons, replicated human skulls, beads, dolls and other similar items consistent with psychic readings,” he said.
“Suspect Lopez told the victim that she believed the victim to be cursed and several horrible things would come to both the victim and the victim’s family if the curse was not removed,” the deputy said.
But for a price, Lopez told her the curse could be removed, Royster said. Over the next month, Lopez encouraged the girl to bring jewelry from her home to help remove the curse.
“Routinely Lopez would orchestrate a ritual in which the victim would place the stolen jewelry in the caldron and attempt to remove the curse,” Royster said. “Each time however Lopez would tell the victim that what they had brought was not enough to remove the horrible curse and she needed more.”
When the girl’s parents began to notice the missing jewelry — valued at more than $10,000 — they confronted their daughter, officials said.
After detectives found some of the missing jewelry in local pawn shops, Royster said, Lopez was arrested.

Officials are now seeking a man who was captured in photographs helping Lopez pawn the jewelry.
According to county booking records, Lopez was released from jail Monday after posting $35,000 bail and was due to appear in the Antelope Valley Courthouse Oct. 18.
Anyone with information is asked call Detective Dang at (661) 272-2477.

PHOTOS courtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.