HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida mother has been left heartbroken after a very personal item was stolen from her home.
Laquinta McKinney lost her 2-month-old daughter to sudden infant death syndrome in 2016. She has since kept her ashes inside a teddy bear.
“It was just a way for me to cope with the loss,” McKinney said.
While McKinney was in the process of moving, Monday, from her Hollywood duplex to Plantation, she realized her belongings didn’t fit inside her car, so she went to rent a UHaul truck.
She left a few items — including the teddy bear — in the driveway area.
“When I got back yesterday, I came back, and I saw the bags ripped apart,” McKinney said. “Stuff was all over the yard, and my first instinct was not even to check what was gone, I just started looking for her.”
The distraught mother was left with the familiar pain of losing her child.
“Losing her again, the feeling comes back to that morning of Sept. 16,” she said, “waking up and she was gone.”
McKinney is now making a painful plea to whoever took the ashes, hoping they do the right thing and return her priceless belonging.
“That bear is more than a bear, she’s my daughter,” the mother said. “If you find it, I wouldn’t be upset. Just, please, if you could return it to the Hollywood Police Department.”
If you have any information on this theft, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.
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