Florida man pleads for return of wife's ashes stolen in burglary

MAITLAND, Fla. — A Maitland, Florida, man said Friday that he feels like he lost his wife a second time after her ashes were stolen in a home burglary just weeks before a planned trip to Hawaii to spread them on the beach.

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Frank Schieber bought his Maitland home with his wife, and “love of my life,” Nancy in December.

Four weeks ago, she died of cancer. But before she did, Nancy asked her husband to take her ashes back to the beach in Hawaii where they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.

“In her last few days in hospice, we were chatting with (her and asked), 'Well, what would you like done with your ashes?'” Frank Schieber said. “And she didn’t have a really good idea, and I said, ‘Well, you know, I could take you back to that beach in Hawaii.’ And she just lit up and said, ‘You’d do that for me?’ And I said, 'Yeah, I would.'”

He would have flown to Hawaii with his son Aug. 1, but on Monday, someone broke into Schieber’s home and, among other things, stole a travel bag containing a box with her ashes.

“When I realized the bag was gone, I was running through the house (saying), ‘No, no, no. How could it be gone?’” Schieber said.

Now he worries the burglars may have ditched the box in the trash and it may be gone.

It’s a hard thing to process, Schieber said.

“I can just imagine that once they figured out what it was, after leaving the home, that she’s going to end up in a dumpster or in a ditch, and she deserves much better than that,” he said. “Nothing is like losing the ashes of the person you love and being unable to fulfill her dying wish.”

Schieber didn’t think the burglars knew what they were taking and hoped it wasn’t too late for his wife’s ashes to be returned.

“They’re certainly of no value to anyone but me,” he said. “To understand what it feels like, if your momma had died and you had her body ready for burial and someone took it and threw it in a dumpster, how would you feel? 'Cause that’s how I feel. She didn’t deserve that.

“I just want it back so I can do the right thing and take her where her last wishes wanted me to take her.”

Anyone with information on the location of Nancy Schieber’s ashes is asked to contact the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.

If the person who took them still has the ashes and wants to return them, no questions asked, they can be dropped off at DeGusipe Funeral Home & Crematory, Frank Schieber said.

The funeral home is located at 9001 N. Orlando Ave., in Maitland.

Cox Media Group