The father of the boy whose remains were stolen from a parking lot Thursday says he’s been reunited with his son’s ashes.
According to London police, a woman contacted officers on Wednesday to report her backpack was stolen from the Salvation Army parking lot, located at 1960 Dundas Street, while she was inside the store.
Inside the backpack was a so-called Comfort Cub — a grey-coloured teddy bear with two linked silver hearts on the chest and a sterling silver urn inside of the bear.
The theft is believed to have occurred between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday and a search of the area and of local businesses was unsuccessful.
“I had a strong feeling I shouldn’t leave the thrift store where he was taken from,” said the boy’s father Jerry Wright. “We ended up sleeping at the side of the store.
“This morning some lady drove up, asked me if I lost something and she went to her car and pulled my bear out.”
According to Wright, the woman said she found the bear in a field near Clarke Road and Admiral Drive.
“I’m so excited, so ecstatic. I got my baby boy back and that’s all I wanted.”
London police have told 980 CFPL the son died in 2016. While police are not saying how old he was at the time, the Comfort Cub website describes its product as a “weighted therapeutic teddy bear…intended to feel like holding a newborn.”
The backpack is still missing, police said.
– With files from Jacquelyn LeBel.
Comments