Car stolen along with wife's ashes at car wash

ELK GROVE, Calif., Dec. 13 (UPI) -- A California man said a woman posing as a car wash employee stole his car, which contained the cremated ashes of his late wife.

Melvin Hayes said he took his car to an Elk Grove car wash and he spoke to a woman who claimed to be an employee while waiting for his car to be returned, KOVR-TV, Sacramento, Calif., reported Friday.

Hayes said he eventually went to ask workers why his car wasn't done yet, and they told him the vehicle had been released to his "girlfriend."

He said he determined the woman he had spoken to was the thief and not an actual employee at the wash.

Hayes said the loss was compounded by the fact that the ashes of his late wife, Annamarie, were in the back when the car was stolen.

"Someone could dump my wife's ashes in the Sacramento River, or Dumpster, or down the sewer," he said. "I don't want that to happen to my wife's ashes."

Hayes said he and Annamarie, who died Nov. 22, would have celebrated their 49th wedding anniversary in January.

He said finding the ashes is his top priority.

"There can't be closure when I don't know where her ashes are, or if she's properly buried," he said.