Scott Peters knows the robbers who broke into his 80-year-old mother’s Burnaby home last week didn’t know what they were taking when they grabbed a red plastic box off a dresser.
That box contained some of the ashes of his late father, Walter, a Korean War veteran who passed away two years ago.
“My mom came home, I guess she was out shopping, and found out somebody had broken in,” said Peters. “But she didn’t find out until the next night (that the ashes were missing) because she didn’t go into dad’s room.
“I think she was in shock because she didn’t even phone the police.”
While most of the ashes were kept in an urn – which was untouched in the robbery – the crematory couldn’t fit them all into the urn and put the rest in a plastic bag inside the red box.
No neighbours witnessed the July 22 break and enter. The robbers also took jewelry, coins and wine, but Peters doesn’t care about those.
“We would just like the ashes back,” he said. “We’re not worried about the jewelry or anything like that.”
Peters hopes someone might find the box, noting that a similar incident in Alberta saw the return of a loved ones’ ashes.
“Even if they’ve dumped it on the street, maybe if somebody reads the article and sees this little, red plastic box, they’ll know what it is,” he said.
He noted that if the robbers still have the box, they could return it no questions asked and that he would not report them to police.
“I know they’re probably paranoid about getting caught, but we’re not worried about catching them,” said Peters. “If anybody finds them or somebody would like to return them, we would be extremely, extremely grateful.”
The box measures 7.5 inches by 4.5 inches, and the plastic bag inside is labelled with his father’s name.
Anyone with information can call Peters at 604-500-3809 or Burnaby RCMP at 604-294-7922. To report information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
