MONKTON, Vt. -
A thief stole the ashes of an infant that were in the mother's home. Police say a home in Monkton was broken into yesterday - and among the jewelry and other items, the baby's urn was taken.
I stopped by the mother's home, she rightfully didn't want to do an interview, but she did send us a picture of the urn in the hopes that someone saw or heard something who can ultimately bring her baby home.
Just six short months ago, a mother had to cremate her baby. On Monday, the tragedy struck again, and all of the emotions of the loss came rushing back.
"It's horrible," neighbor Michelle Burritt said.
Burritt lives on the same street where the robbery happened, she doesn't know her neighbor, but is sympathetic to her great loss.
"It's bad enough losing your child," Burritt said.
Police say a robber kicked in the front door of a home on Pond Road in Monkton... an oak jewelry box, with costume jewelry and a gold ring with a garnet stone was taken. As well as the urn with the infant's ashes inside. It's four inches tall with a screw on top.
I asked Burritt, "If you saw this, would you think that this was an urn?" She said, "No."
And police say the thief probably didn't either.
"They take whatever they can see in plain view and very quickly," Vermont State Police Trooper Keri Starr said.
"And if they did, they're horrible," Burritt added.
Police say the odds of the thief returning the ashes back to the home are slim, because there's of course the chance that he or she could get caught and items that are stolen are so rarely ever returned.
"I would hope that they wouldn't dump the ashes and that they could return that at least, be civil," Burritt said.
If the motive was money, funeral home owners say the crook isn't going to get much. When I called a half dozen places, they all said, pewter urns like the one in the picture, at retail value are between two and four hundred dollars... but selling it to a scrap metal yard or a pawn shop, you'd be lucky to get thirty bucks.
Burglaries in general are on the rise in Addison county, so police say to report suspicious cars, or people. And because most people work, the majority of the break in's are happening during the day, like this one. So if you have any information and can help bring this baby home, contact police.
