MODESTO, Calif. — A Modesto family pleaded for the return of their stolen car because the vehicle contained ashes belonging to a great grandfather. While the family got their car back, the ashes remain missing.
Mikayla Rodela, 16, was very close to her 65-year-old grandfather, Jeffery Dugan who owned a 1997 Acura.
"He spent a lot of time with me and took me and my friends to do things and would just always be there for me," Rodela said.
But just over a year ago, the former pest control man, known as "Papa," died of cancer. He wanted Rodela to have his beloved car that had been originally owned by Dugan's mother.
"He was very giving. He helped all of us, our whole family... if he could, he was helping us," said Stephani Austin, Rodela's mother.
The car was only back up and running about two weeks ago when the family got enough money to fix it.
But Sunday morning around 6 a.m. in Modesto near Scenic Drive and the cemetery, a security camera caught a green Honda sedan pulling up to the Acura in an alley where it was parked. Two men got out and quickly stole it.
While the car was beloved, what was inside the Acura was something priceless: the ashes of Jeffery Dugan's father and Rodela's great grandfather, Timothy Dugan.
"When he passed away, a lot of his belongings were put into the trunk of the car before my daughter received it, and the ashes were one of the things that were in there," Austin said.
When the family reported the car stolen to Modesto Police Department, they were told nothing could be done. That's because the owner's name was still on the title and hadn't been transferred.
ABC10 went to the Modesto Police Department for more answers. Police said that once the change of ownership process begins then a report can be taken.
While the Stanislaus County Auto Theft Task Force found the car with the catalytic converter stolen at a Motel 6 in Modesto, the ashes remain stolen.
The family is heading to the DMV to get the title transferred. Modesto police said it's important to verify that it's a legal owner reporting a car stolen. As long as proof is provided that a paper trail for the transfer is started, then police can take down a report.
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