GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — A Grand Rapids mother is pleading with the community to be on the lookout for necklaces containing her son's ashes that were stolen from a family vehicle earlier this month.
The family shared with 13 ON YOUR SIDE that four of those necklaces were returned, but that means there are still seven missing memorial necklaces.
In February, Barbara Patton lost her 25-year-old son Jaysen to depression. On Thursday, April 18, her son's cremated remains were stolen. After Jaysen passed, the family decided to cremate his body and put his remains in black fishhook cross necklaces to honor his love for fishing.
The family picked up 11 memorial necklaces from a funeral home Thursday and kept them in the truck at their hotel parking lot off Alpine Avenue in Grand Rapids. By that evening, the necklaces were gone.
The family is heartbroken and all they want is for their son's remains to be returned.
"We're pleading to return that part of our son. Although the necklaces are just jewelry, they're replaceable, our son's not. That's part of him that's now been taken from us a second time," said Barbara Patton.
"I don't want to know that there's 11 people walking around with my son and they might not even realize what they are other than a piece of jewelry. They might not even know they have somebody on them," Patton said. "I don't want for someone to see this and say, 'Oh my goodness, I did this' and then throw them out. Because I don't want my son to be trashed. I want him to be returned."
The family said if someone does have the remaining necklaces, they can be dropped off at the Grand Rapids police station with no questions asked.
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, know there is help available to you. The Michigan Crisis Access Line offers 24/7 help and answers calls to 988. You can also text 988 for help.
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