'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
Breast cancer screening should start at age 40, Canadian Cancer Society says
The Canadian Cancer Society says all provinces and territories should lower the starting age for breast cancer screening to 40.
DEVELOPING Live updates as Stormy Daniels testifies at Trump hush money trial
Adult film star Stormy Daniels is on the stand a second time Thursday as former U.S. president Donald Trump’s hush money case continues in Manhattan. Follow live updates here.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Canadian-Israeli man shot dead in Egypt; claim links killing to Gaza
A Canadian man 'of Jewish Israeli descent' has been shot dead in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in a suspected criminal case, a security source said, while a previously unknown militant group said it carried out the attack in reaction to the war in Gaza.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
Ontario man frustrated after $3,500 paving job leaves driveway in shambles
An Ontario man considering having his driveway paved received a quote from a company for $7,000, but then, another paver in the neighbourhood knocked on his door and offered half that rate.
Why these immigrants to Canada say they're thinking about leaving, or have already moved on
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Bank of Canada says financial system is stable, but risks remain
The Bank of Canada says the Canadian financial system is stable, but risks remain due to debt servicing costs among households and businesses and stretched valuations of financial assets.
BREAKING Sheldon Keefe out as head coach of Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Sheldon Keefe. The team made the announcement Thursday after the Original Six franchise lost to the Boston Bruins in seven games in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.