FORT COLLINS, CO – The ashes of a Colorado man’s late father were stolen from the porch of his home, after being delivered in a box in late January.
Austin Barker posted a notice on Craig’s list offering a $500 reward, and posted a sign in front of his residence in Fort Collins begging for the return of his father’s ashes, which he said his cousin sent from the East Coast to be delivered on Jan. 26. But Baker was out of town, and someone stole the 1′ by 2′ box containing the cremated remains of Art Barker, 62, who died of bladder cancer Dec. 23, 2018 in Waterbury, Connecticut, the Fort Collins Coloardoan reported.
For Austin Barker, the loss was particularly hard because he and his father had been estranged for 25 years and then reunited about eight years ago on Facebook. They reunited in Boston recently, and Art Barker was diagnosed with stage-four cancer a year ago.
“Someone must have thought [the package] was valuable,” Barker told the Coloradoan. “I know it was incredibly valuable to me but not really to anybody else.”
The package was stolen from the front of a house on South Howes Street near Colorado State University.
“A package was taken from the porch that contained the cremated remains of a loved one. We will pay you for the return of this package, no questions asked,” Barker posted on Craigslist.
“Knowing that once you open the package, you know what’s inside of it, I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t try to get them back,” Barker told Fox 31.
Barker is begging for whoever stole the box to return it. He had promised his father he would spread his ashes on a hike with friends up Windom Peak, near Durango, he said.
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“I just wanted that closure, you know… conquer a 14er with him and get to the top and let him rest in peace on top of a mountain,” Baker told the TV station.
“I’m not mad. I’m not going to press charges. I just want someone to sneak the ashes over some night to my house, leave them at the post office or drop them at the police station. I just want them back,” he told the Coloradoan.
READ MORE in the Coloradoan
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