Mother’s, dog’s ashes stolen during Regina car break-in

Mondays already are a drag for most people, but for one Regina man, this past work week started off on a more solemn foot.

When Ryan Shevolup left his Broders Annex home Monday morning, he noticed some of his car windows were smashed out, and a few toonies and some scratch tickets were stolen from his glove compartment.

The hanging urn filled with the ashes of Ryan Shevolup’s rescued Pitbull, Kaine, was stolen sometime early in the morning of June 17, 2019. (Ryan Shevolup/Submitted)

Then, when he drove to work, Shevolup went to rub his “good luck charms” — the two miniature urns containing the ashes of his mother and his dog — hanging from his rearview mirror, only to realize that they too were stolen during the break-in.

“Once I realized that (the urns) were missing, I think it went from anger to disappointment that someone would actually steal that from somebody,” he said. “The (urn) for my dog was engraved with paw prints and had a little wing. To me, it’s self-explanatory what it is, but maybe it looked like something different to someone else.”

When Shevolup’s mother, Brenda, lost her battle with cancer about a year ago, he decided to get a hanging urn to have a little piece of her everywhere he went. When his 13-year-old rescued pit bull, Kaine, died roughly six months after that, Shevolup added the dog’s urn to the chain.

“I would really like those back,” he said. “They were my good luck charms — my good karma, my good mojo.”

Shevolup said he’s still stunned that — out of everything the thieves could have taken from his vehicle — they chose to steal something so sentimental.

“I have a $1,500 stereo in my car and they didn’t take it; they didn’t try to open my trunk and it was full of tools. You know, I would have rather had my stereo taken than (the urns),” he explained.

Once he got home from work on Monday, Shevolup said he walked around the neighbourhood in hopes that the thieves threw the urns away once they realized what they were. However, he came up short.

Shevolup said “it would mean the world” to get the ashes back.

Whoever has the urns in their possession is asked to drop them off at either the Shell gas station at Arcola Avenue and Park Street or at Regina police headquarters.

Anyone with information about the incident can also call the Regina Police Service at 306-777-6500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.