A California family was recently forced to pay $5,000 to get their son’s remains back. Their son lost his battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma back in 2011, but his ashes remained in a locked safe. In December 2016, the family discovered that the safe had been stolen in a robbery. After working with police, the remains were located, but the thieves insisted on splitting the reward money, threatening to dump the ashes if refused. The family is still working to find out who the criminals are, hoping to bring them to justice.
See Kyle Foley, Thieves Steal Ashes of 6-Year-Old in California, Demand Ransom to Return Them to Family, Heatstreet, January 16, 2017.
