Even in death, baby Hannah always had a special place in her parents’ bedroom until thieves stole her little urn Friday afternoon.
“My daughter and I ran into the city to grab a few things,” explained Hannah’s mother, Leisa Miller. “My husband got in just before we did – around 4:50 p.m. – and discovered the back door had been kicked in.”
Dwayne Miller saw two bedrooms in the family’s Parkland County home had been ransacked as well as the family’s office. But then, the couple noticed something else.
“On my night side table, we had my daughter’s urn sitting there. And it was gone,” Leisa said.
Dwayne said the realization left him feeling gutted. Stolen jewellery and guns meant little by comparison.
“I don’t care about that stuff,” he said.
“Just before she was due, she became stillborn,” Leisa said, explaining how Hannah became wrapped in umbilical cord in the womb 18 years ago.
“With a stillborn, you don’t have very many items or many memories of them because you have them such a small time. It was just something. We had her picture, a little blanket and her urn and that’s really all we had.”
The tiny brass urn had a crisscross pattern around the centre with a small rose protruding from the side. It was less than four inches in diameter and of similar height. It has a rounded top and a plug in the bottom.
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The family doesn’t have a picture of the lost urn and the funeral home doesn’t make them anymore – so Leisa drew a picture of it from memory.
The RCMP has seen a large spike in this type of crime in the last two weeks.
“Just northwest of Edmonton in Parkland County, we’ve seen eight break and enters or major thefts from rural homes,” explained Cpl. Kim Mueller with Spruce Grove RCMP.
This is the second time this year an urn has been reported stolen to her detachment.
She’s hopeful the thief will have a change of heart.
“A lot of times, these things tend to get back to their owners – when it’s this type of item.”
Until then, the Millers are left grieving the loss of their daughter once more.
“Right now, it’s like it just happened yesterday, again,” Dwayne said while fighting back tears.
“It just kind of reopens that wound and you remember that big hole in your heart,” Leisa explained.
“It’s our child. It’s that fifth member of our family that we didn’t get to raise.”
If you find the urn, you’re asked to bring it to a police station. If you’d rather remain anonymous, you can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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