A 71-year-old man’s West Odessa home was broken into and his wife’s ashes stolen during the weekend.
The man, who was on vacation during the weekend, said he entered his home off of West 16th Street and Lillard Avenue on Sunday evening only to discover an empty living room with no furniture, beer cans scattered across the floor and his most valuable possession missing.
The man said his wife’s ashes had been taken while he was out of town. The couple had been married for 51 years and his wife died about a year ago.
“I don’t care about the furniture, that’s replaceable, but she’s gone,” he said.
The man said this is the second burglary he has experienced in about a month. He said a safe and bunk beds that his grandchildren used were taken in the first break-in. He said he reported the incident and checked with neighbors Sunday night, but they had also been out of town at the time. Ector County Sheriff’s Office could not confirm whether or not a report was made for the burglary.
The man said he had locked the door before leaving for his weekend trip to Dallas to visit a friend, but he had forgotten to lock the deadbolt.
“They took everything,” the man said, “all my dishes, canned goods I had in the cupboards, pots and pans, everything. The only thing they didn’t take was the kitchen table and the chairs to it.”
The man went to go to work Monday morning after sleeping on the floor of his bedroom that night. His coworkers said they were heartbroken and angry that his wife had been taken from him.
Parts Plus Store Manager Janice Ticey and her husband Chris Ticey said the store’s staff is like a family. They decided to step in by posting on social media and offering a reward for the return of the wife’s ashes, which were kept in a brown, box-shaped urn with an image of two horses and the phrase “in loving memory of Nancy” engraved on the top. At this time there is no set amount for the reward.
Chris Ticey said he and his wife are asking for the public’s help to locate the ashes above all else.
“The only thing he cares about is his wife, which tells you after 51 years and at 71 years old his priorities,” Janice Ticey said. “If we can just get the urn and give him his wife back … she needs to come back to him.”
