HOUSTON – Crooks that broke into a car parked outside a Montrose home stole more than just change and some electronics.
Sonia Soto says among the items stolen by criminals last week were the ashes of her late dog, Mimosa.
“What’s most frustrating is my dog had just passed away, and I just picked up her ashes and they took those ashes,” Soto told KPRC2′s Gage Goulding. “I don’t have children, so my dogs are my babies, and she was my baby.”
Her pint-sized pup is one of her two best friends: her dogs.
Mimosa passed away, and Soto had her remains cremated. She picked them up just a day before they went missing last Saturday.
She was working late at a home near the corner of Whitney and Fairview Streets in Montrose. When she woke up and got in the car for work, she noticed that someone else had been inside.
“As I’m getting in my car, things don’t look right, and I realized my glove compartments open and things are askew,” she said.
The vehicle was locked behind a gate at the home with no easy or quiet way to get in.
“Our pedestrian gate [makes a] pretty loud squeak,” she added. “The dogs were barking, but I thought they were just barking because we’re in Montrose, people are walking by.”
Since this happened, she’s been searching every street and every sidewalk, looking for Mimosa’s remains.
“I keep driving through the neighborhood, walking, looking to see if someone just tossed it once they realized what it was.”
This is where you can help her. When a pet’s remains are cremated, they should have an ID tag included in the ashes, according to the International Association of Cemeteries and Crematories.
“Each pet receives an identification tag immediately upon receipt at the cemetery. This tag stays with the pet form the time the pet is received until the cremains are returned to the owner,” the organization says on its website.
That means if you find a wooden box with a small bag of what looks like ashes, they could be Mimosa’s.
“Bring back my baby’s ashes, please. It means a lot to me,” she said.
That even includes the person who took them in the first place.
Sonia: “I would be happy. I’d give them a reward.”
Gage: “Really?”
Sonia: “I would.”
If you have any information that could help investigators, you can submit a tip to Crime Stoppers of Houston online or by calling 713-222-TIPS (8477).