'Keep the car': Woman hopes thieves return mother's ashes from back seat of stolen vehicle
A woman is calling on Montrealers to keep their eyes peeled for her stolen vehicle. She says she does not care about the car; it’s her mother’s ashes, which were sitting in the back seat, that she wants back.
Catherine Lewis, a Montreal-born Torontonian, says she and her sister drove to Montreal to bury her mother’s ashes next to their father at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery on Mount Royal.
On Tuesday night, they parked in front of a West Island hotel and left the urn in the backseat.
“Laughingly, we said we’d leave the ashes in the car ... because it’s not going to make a difference,” she said.
“But when we came out to the car the next morning, to go to the cemetery, the car was gone,” she added. “It’s just unbelievable.”
She says police told her the car was stolen at around 3:40 a.m., and that it was likely parked on the side of the road somewhere.
Now, she’s pleading with anyone with information on its location to come forward before the vehicle is sold or shipped off.
“Hopefully [the thieves] will have a modicum of morality,” she said. “They wouldn’t have known that the ashes were back there.”
“Keep the car, you can have the car, we would just really appreciate having the ashes returned.”
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
The vehicle is a silver 2020 Toyota RAV4 with Ontario licence plate CDNP 041.
The ashes are in a golden, rectangular urn, inscribed with “Winifred Jane Dominik, 1928 – 2021.” It’s sitting inside a burgundy felt bag, along with the certificate of cremation and a death certificate.
Anyone who has the ashes in their possession can return them to the hotel where the vehicle was stolen from, or a local police station.
Lewis says police told her the RAV4 is a particularly popular car to steal.
“An investigation is underway in this case,” a police spokesperson told CTV Montreal. “It goes without saying that we encourage anyone who notices that their vehicle has been stolen to report it to the police.”
Police also said there have been significantly more vehicle thefts in Montreal this year.
In 2021, police recorded 3,820 thefts between Jan 1 to Aug.31. During that same period in 2022, there had been 6,190.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Ontario coroner to investigate death of man who suffered cardiac arrest while waiting in ER
A provincial coroner will be investigating the death of 68-year-old David Lippert, who suffered a cardiac arrest while waiting in a crowded emergency room in Kitchener, Ont.
BREAKING Toronto mayor hints that WNBA team is coming to the city, marking the first franchise in Canada
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow says that she is hopeful an announcement could be made soon amid multiple reports that a WNBA team is coming to Toronto in 2026.
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake reported off Vancouver Island's west coast
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded west of Vancouver Island early Friday morning.
Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
Federal government bans watercraft from Manitoba lake popular with tourists
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
Her SUV was stolen in Montreal. A Good Samaritan on Facebook helped her get it back
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.