The cremated remains of a Queens woman were stolen along with expensive electronics from a rental car on May 9th, just after the woman's memorial service. Hours after Eileen Dashiell's ashes were packed inside a box and placed in a green tote bag by the crematorium, her daughter, Jeanne Shuff, left the rented van parked outside a relative's house in Mott Haven. The next morning, Shuff found the passenger's side window broken and her laptop, camera, DVD player and mother's ashes gone. She told the Post, "First I lost her. And then she was stolen from me."
The electronics had reportedly been hidden underneath other boxes, and thieves possibly believed the tote bag contained valuables as well. Shuff's husband, Dwight, said he ran around for hours, asking neighbors if they had seen anything suspicious, but so far nobody has come forward. Eileen Dashiell's mother, Lois, says she hopes the thieves didn't realize they had taken the ashes. She told the Daily News, "I'm hoping someone will find it somewhere, and give it back to the family."
