ROSEVILLE, Ca. – A break-in at a woman’s home in Roseville, California on Friday ended with an urn containing her late husband’s ashes being stolen.
Police are calling it an unusual crime because the thief targeted a gated community.
They believe the thief grabbed the first thing they saw -- jewelry and an urn full of the homeowner’s husband’s ashes. They are memories that can’t be replaced.
A small, framed stained glass portrait of a hummingbird sits on a nightstand in Mimi Lopez-Waverly’s bedroom
It’s all she has left to remember her late husband Michael by.
“I have nothing left of him now. I have the memories but that’s not enough for me," said Lopez-Waverly.
For nearly four years, the stained glass frame stood alongside an urn containing Michael’s ashes.
Until Friday when police say a thief broke into her home.
Swiping the urn and Michael’s wedding ring, among his other jewelry on the nightstand.
“They could have taken anything if I could talk to them now, I’d say you could have anything. just bring him home," said Lopez-Waverly.
She says it’s like losing the love of her life all over again.
The pair shared thirteen married years together.
“I’m broken. My heart is in so many pieces. I go back to day one when my husband died," said Lopez-Waverly. "I’m mourning and it’s just horrific.”
Keeping his ashes close by brought her comfort on the hard days that she says come more often around the holidays, and now she fears his remains will be discarded in a trash can or worse.
“This is where he belongs," said Lopez-Waverly. "He doesn’t belong in a dumpster or out in a field. It just breaks my heart to think about and I can’t do anything about it.”
Shortly after Michael died, she moved to this quiet gated community in Roseville, hoping she’d find peace
“I wanted to feel safe and i did feel safe," said Lopez-Waverly.
But now, she’s not only grappling with the loss of her soulmate but also her sense of security.