Surrey man pleads for return of mother’s ashes stolen during home invasion

A Surrey man is devastated after finding his mother’s ashes stolen during a home invasion on Friday night.

Stephen de Paras come home on Friday to discover his door had been kicked in and a number of his possessions had been stolen. A safe – containing some jewelry, family photos and personal letters – was taken along with an important velvet bag containing something irreplaceable.

“I went out in the living room and discovered that my mother’s ashes had been stolen,” de Paras said.

He is now pleading with whomever stole the ashes to please return them.

“I was supposed to take her to England so that she could be with her family. That was her dying request and now I can’t do it,” de Paras, whose mother died in November 2015, said through tears. “I’m hoping somebody out there will have it in their heart if they see a small velvet bag, they could return it.”

He’s put a sign outside his property with a milk crate, hoping the bag will be dropped off.

“It’s not important to anybody else, it’s only important to me, and it’s all I have left of my family,” he said.

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