STOCKTON, California — A Stockton man is beside himself and almost in disbelief that the ashes belonging to his grandmother are gone.
"I actually started crying because it was the only thing left from my grandmother that I have," Casey Cotta said.
On Saturday, Jan. 29, a private estate sale was held for Cotta's grandmother on his father's side in the 2500 block of Breaker Way near Eight Mile Road in North Stockton.
Cotta believes the necklaces were either sold by mistake or someone simply snatched them off the wall in his room.
"She was the most strongest woman anyone could ever meet," he said.
Casey said that's because she grew up in Germany during World War II and endured heavy bombing.
He said her family survived on one potato a day and a loaf of bread a week.
After the war ended, at just 14, she and her sister made a daring escape across a field patrolled by Russian soldiers.
"They met a woman. That woman helped them to flee from West Germany into East Germany through the winter time with no shoes on and a skirt. And, it took them about two days," said Cotta.
Cotta is a native of Germany himself. He moved to the U.S. in 2016.
His grandmother raised five daughters and he was very close to her growing up.
Cotta has posted the photo of the necklace on social media in Stockton.
The posting has been shared over 1,000 times.
Now, he is hoping the person who has his two priceless necklaces will be kind enough to return them.
"I will pay you back extra. And, those necklaces they mean the world to me."
