BLOOMINGTON, Ill., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- The car thief who stole an Illinois woman's purse also took the ashes of her slain 3-year-old son.
"It's almost like going through the murder and everything else again," Donetta Ernst told The Pantagraph newspaper in Bloomington, Ill. "I would give anything to have them back."
A thief broke into Ernst's car late Wednesday by smashing a window with a cinder block. Ernst had her purse under the seat while she went to a bar with a friend after finishing a shift at the Steak N' Shake in Bloomington.
There was no money in the purse but the ashes were in a silver heart-shaped box, which also contained a small diamond earring the boy wore. The box had his name and his dates of birth and death on the outside.
Ernst said that most of the ashes were buried but she wanted to feel like her son was still with her. She asked the person who took the box to call Bloomington police and make arrangements to return it, saying she has no interest in pressing charges.
