Days before Barbara Peterson died in 2013, her manicurist who had become a good friend came to her bedside and painted her fingernails.

She was unconscious, and would soon succumb to the metastatic breast cancer that had spread throughout her body. But her daughters felt comforted and touched that someone cared so much for her.

Years later, they would discover those loving hands – the ones that had cared for them as children, wiped tears away and brushed their hair – were stolen.

Her hands were...