‘We just want her back’: Alberta daughter pleads for return of mom’s stolen ashes

UPDATE: On Aug. 1, 2017, Lois Gordon told Global News that her family has recovered the chest containing her mother’s ashes and that her “faith in human beings is restored.”

Just weeks after losing their mother, a family near Edmonton is also grieving the theft of her ashes and is desperately hoping they will be found so they can be laid to rest.

Mary Annie Myers died in her Strathcona County home at the end of May, days before her 91st birthday. Just weeks later, her ashes — along with some costume jewelry and personal mementos — were stolen from the very bedroom she passed away in.

“We are devastated by the violation of course, but our grief is still very raw and for them to actually take her from us a second time … it’s very, very difficult,” said her daughter Lois Gordon.

“We just want her back.”

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The robbery happened Saturday, July 8, just before 10 p.m. near Range Road 225 and Township Road 534. Gordon said she was at home when she heard the security alarm go off at her late mother’s house, which is nearby.

“We were here in a matter of minutes, but he was already pulling out of the drive and drove around us and got away,” Gordon said. The family said it saw what appeared to be a dark grey Chevrolet Equinox leaving the house. No one was able to catch a licence plate.

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READ MORE: ‘Our house is whole again’: son’s ashes returned to Alberta mother

Police said the suspect entered the unlocked garage door and kicked in the main door leading to the home. Gordon said she believes the thief, upon hearing the alarm, rushed to the bedroom.

She said the dresser was rifled through and believes the stolen items were thrown on the bedspread, which was scooped up and taken. It all happened so fast that the security company thought it was a false alarm.

“We’re not particularly concerned with retrieving mementos and jewelry — though anything that was our mother’s is precious to us — but the thief also took the chest containing her ashes,” said Gordon, who believes it was mistaken for a jewelry box.

The plain, 12-by-six-inch cherrywood box was inside a green, drawstring velvet bag, which also contained a cremation permit and burial certificate. A sticker on the bottom had Myers’ name on it.

It’s been nearly two weeks and none of the stolen items has surfaced. The family checked with pawn shops but said they were told by police that is usually a dead end.

“To think that she might have been discarded in a ditch somewhere is very painful.” Gordon is urging the thief to do the right thing.

“Surely in your life somewhere there is someone that you respect and love and would want them treated with dignity. We ask that you give us the chance to lay her to rest with the dignity she deserves,” Gordon said though tears.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Surely in your life somewhere there is someone that you respect and love and would want them treated with dignity. We ask that you give us the chance to lay her to rest with the dignity she deserves," Gordon said though tears.

Myers was a mother of four, a grandmother of seven, and a great-grandmother of 11. The family planned to honour her in a celebration of life this month. Now, they feel they can not truly say farewell to the matriarch, described as a farmer’s wife with a never-say-die attitude who “took on projects that would have daunted a strapping man.”

“I just want her ashes back. No questions asked. Just take them to a funeral home, police station, somewhere.”

Myers said the box means nothing to the thief — but everything to the family.

“I understand that people do desperate things at times, but this means so much to us and it will mean nothing to you in the end. It would prove to us that there was some goodness there if you could return her to us.”

RCMP said the suspect is described as being in his early 20s and has black hair with a brush cut and round face.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Strathcona County RCMP at 780-467-7741 or their local police detachment. Anonymous tips can be submitted via Crime Stoppers.