Many years ago, my house was broken into. It was just before Christmas. The theives came in, opened up all the pressies under the tree, and ransacked my mother's jewelry box. They stole, in part, her engagement ring and quite a few very sentimental objects. About 5 years after that, I was talking to a friend's brother who had recently been released from jail for B&E's. It turned out that my house was one of the ones he had broken into, or at least he thought it was, considering he was seriously into drugs at the time. It's a rare opportunity when you are given a chance to confront someone like that. While the goods taken were quickly sold to a pawn shop and could never be recovered, I know that what was said stayed with T after that. Suffice to say, I didn't hold back. Sometimes, I wonder if victim statements would help more criminals understand. It's a fantasy world I live in, I'm sure, but it certainly felt good to get some closure in that incident.
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Whoever stole the ashes of twins Liam and Joseph Jacques should have the common decency to return the cherished remains -- or at least tell police where to find them, Surrey RCMP said yesterday.
A handcrafted red-oak box holding the ashes of the boys was stolen from the Jacques family home Thursday afternoon.
Insp. Richard Konarski said it's likely those responsible have no idea what they took, or how important its contents are to parents Lisa and Trevor Jacques.
Whoever broke into the apartment in the 10400-block 148 Street stuffed the box, a laptop computer, portable DVD player and about $8,000 worth of electronics into plastic bags, also taken from the apartment.
Lisa Jacques told The Province police are in the process of recovering images of the suspected thieves from building security cameras. They were apparently picked up on video getting off the elevator and leaving the lobby.
Konarski said police would send a cruiser to pick the box up and return it to the Jacques if the thieves call and reveal where to find it. Police are also asking a woman who called from a nearby building to tell them about the theft to please call back.
Liam and Joseph were born prematurely June 21, 1992. Liam survived just one day, while Joseph lived for only six weeks. Their paternal grandfather carved the box to hold the twins' ashes.
The box is light red, 25 to 30 centimetres long, 10 cm wide and 71/2 cm high.
