The family visiting Vacaville has a car broken into and their brother’s ashes stolen

VACAVILLE, Calif. (KTXL) – A family visiting Vacaville from abroad was devastated after breaking into their rental car and stealing a backpack containing their brother’s ashes Tuesday morning.

“Most of the time we’re just sad because we couldn’t fulfill Tim’s last wish to bring him home and stay with his family,” said Kristal Horne.

Horne promised her brother Tim Horne, before he died of cancer in January, that his family would return to their hometown of Vacaville and scatter his ashes in his favorite spots.

“We wanted to visit some of the places Tim grew up in and I wanted to show that this is basically his life in Vacaville,” Horne explained.

But the trip took a terrible turn when Horne received a desperate call from her brother’s sister-in-law, who had stopped for a quick breakfast at Mel’s Original Diner.

“Leslie called me and said, ‘Somebody broke into the car, they took my backpack. There’s Tim’s ashes in there, ”Horne told FOX40.

Horne said two backpacks had been removed from the couple’s rental car. One was gray with car keys in Texas and important medicines in it. The other was a black nylon bag with a white gold wedding ring, $ 500 in cash, and a Ziploc bag containing her brother’s ashes.

“The thief must have broken into two other vehicles within a short time,” said Horne.

“One had, he was a hunter, who came from Idaho and they stole all of his guns and he was parked right in front,” said Fernando Rincon, the general manager of Mel’s Original Diner.

Rincon said car thieves have reached their parking lot many times, sometimes in broad daylight and within minutes.

“They’re usually more common during the holiday season when people shop and aren’t careful,” said Rincon. “I’ve been here for nine years, they tend to come from outside and look around for places and shopping malls to target vehicles.”

Horne said after sharing her ordeal on social media the sympathy was overwhelming. She said she hoped the thieves who kidnapped her beloved brother felt the same way too.

“The thought of it being in a ditch somewhere or along the highway really breaks my heart,” she said. “Just bring him back, take him away, you know.”

Anyone living near the Vacaville-Fairfield area who discovers something resembling a plastic bag containing ashes or other suspicious car break-ins should call the Vacaville Police Department.