FRESNO, Cali. — A Fresno woman says she is heartbroken after her mother’s ashes were stolen in broad daylight from inside her grandmother’s SUV.
It was all caught on camera the moments a crook broke into it Monday around 5 p.m. on Hayes and Ashlan avenues in northwest Fresno.
In the video, you can see moving trucks parked outside a home as 19-year-old Naziree Gumbs was moving in with her grandmother.
A thief then, busts the driver’s side window of her grandmother’s white SUV.
[RELATED]Family chases down teenager accused of stealing from their store, teen arrested
Seconds later, he is spotted running with something in his hand, moments before he jumps into a dark SUV down the street.
But that SUV has a different colored panel, giving Gumbs hope someone will know who did it.
She says their SUV was filled with moving boxes and personal belongings, but the crook took something that meant the world to her.
Naziree said, “it was like my momma dying all over again.”
They took her and her mother’s purse.
“Had her urn and her ashes inside of it,” she said.
Gumbs says she doesn’t care about anything else but her mother’s ashes.
She lost her mother Shameika two years ago.
It’s like they took my mom. The only physical part that I could at least reassure myself that she’s still with me outside of spiritually. It’s like they took that from me again. It’s like they ripped my heart out my chest.
Her uncle Aji Gumbs says his niece has been through a lot already, losing her mother and father at a young age.
[RELATED]How GPS trackers help law enforcement agencies recover stolen property/vehicles
“She doesn’t deserve that. She’s only 19 years old and some things can’t be replaced. So, if those things can come back… just the ashes, maybe her mom’s license…those irreplaceable things will mean a lot to her,” he said.
The family knows the thieves probably didn’t intend to take the urn and ashes.
Gumbs says he’s even willing to pay.
H says, “I’m sure they were just looking for something they can sell or some money, something like that. They weren’t looking to take those ashes and so if the ashes could be returned, I’d be willing to pay $1000 myself to the person that brings them back, whether they want to stay anonymous or not.”
But Naziree hopes those who took them, will have a conscience.
She says the car is in the same spot. The window is still broken.
She says you can place them inside the SUV or drop them off at the corner house on the block.
According to Naziree, she says if the thieves return the ashes, they won’t press charges.
“But if you’re willing to return things anonymously, I’m not gonna hunt you down,” she said.
The family says they are working to get clearer surveillance video should the thieves not do the right thing.