Family has son's urn stolen from car while on work trip to Houston
HOUSTON - The Lundgrens are now looking for their son’s urn after it was stolen from their car at the Wyndham Garden Hotel near Willowbrook Mall.
Their son, Blake Elom, was only 24-years-old when he passed away recently in a car accident.
"Houston hasn’t been nice to us that’s for sure," said April Lundgren, a traveling nurse and mother of Blake Elom. "Our family, we already lost our son and that was all that we have left of him."
The mother, April Lundgren, a traveling nurse, worked in the city for several months.
The couple decided to stay one more night to catch a show with their 12-year-old daughter, before heading back home to North Carolina.
"We took a walk over to the cars and realized that several things were missing, the most important item being our son," said Chris Lundgren, Blake's father.
April tells FOX 26, the city has now put a bad taste in her mouth. She tells us, they did their due diligence, checked online, read reviews, and felt relatively safe.
"They broke the window and it was the first thing he took from my car, so we’re assuming he thought it was a jewelry box," said April. "I’m sure when he got home he was sorely mistaken."
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After looking at the surveillance video, Harris County Deputies told the couple the break-in happened around 5:15 in the morning this past Saturday.
The man in an older black Nissan Maxima was caught on video, they believe he may have come from the apartment complex across the street.
"The officer was actually surprised that the place still rents rooms because there’s such a high number of break-ins," said April. "She actually recommended that we don’t stay there again."
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The couple tells us, they wanted to keep their son close to them. They say it was difficult to break the news to their 12-year-old daughter that someone had stolen his ashes.
"We are all just praying that somebody will see this urn and give it back to us, especially when it’s right before the holidays. It’s very important to all of us," said April.
The family is offering a cash reward. If you know information about this car break-in, you can submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers at (713) 222-8477.