Palm Desert man’s stolen ashes returned to daughter
A Palm Desert woman is thankful to be reunited with her father’s ashes after they were stolen from her car Sunday night.
Reagan Richter said she left her car window cracked open and police believe a thief opened the door and crawled into the back to take the ashes and a Marc Jacobs purse.
Richter told News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 that the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department returned the box containing her father’s ashes on Tuesday afternoon. Deputies found out about the box after the Cathedral City Police Department discovered it inside an abandoned stolen vehicle.
The box of ashes was sealed, Richter says, so the robbers likely thought the box was an Amazon delivery or something of the sort. The box clearly says it contains human remains of her father, Michael Richter.
While breaking into her car, the thief or thieves didn’t take cash sitting in the center console, or a large bag of prescription drugs, which belonged to Richter’s late father.
After the theft, Richter said, “I feel terrible.. I’m completely devastated. I feel like I’ve totally failed. They’re gone now…”
Now that the box has been returned, Richter can move forward with honoring the memory of her late father. She had spent the weekend with her family attending her father’s “celebration of life” on Saturday, with plans of scattering the ashes in the days following the ceremony.
The investigation into the stolen ashes is ongoing and no suspects have been identified at this time. We’ll deliver more details as the case moves forward.
