Devastated wife says 'I've lost him for a second time' as husband's ashes stolen
A distraught wife described the awful moment she discovered her husband's ashes had been stolen from a garage they were being stored in.
Nigel Hill's ashes were taken along with a number of expensive power tools in Bury on September 19. Susan, his wife of almost 50 years, said how she now feels that she has 'lost him for a second time'.
His family were planning to scatter the ashes at the local Woodbank Cricket Club, where he was a much-loved odd job man, but instead have been left 'devastated and heartbroken' after they were stolen, reports Manchester Evening News. The ashes were in a mint green-coloured box placed inside a burgundy coloured tote bag.
The mint green box containing Nigel Hill’s ashes that were stolen (MEN Media)Nigel's daughter Sarah previously described how the family were 'absolutely lost for words' when they were stolen from the family home garage in Brandlesholme Road. Today, a fresh heartfelt appeal was issued through Greater Manchester Police (GMP) by Susan who pleaded for anyone with information to come forward.
She said: "Earlier this year, I lost my husband Nigel to pancreatic cancer after being married for nearly fifty years. Nigel’s death has completely devastated our family, and to say we are heartbroken would be an understatement.
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"On Tuesday 19, September 2023, I discovered that the garage at the rear of our home had been broken into and a number of power tools had been stolen from inside. Also stolen from inside the garage, from the wooden workbench, were Nigel’s ashes.
"Nigel’s ashes were in a mint green coloured box, inside a burgundy coloured tote bag. Nigel spent the majority of his time in the garage, he was a passionate handyman who would turn his hands to absolutely anything and loved spending time at his workbench.
"When we received Nigel’s ashes, we decided as a family that we would place them on his wooden workbench in the garage, as this is where he loved to be, and where he was his happiest. One of Nigel’s last wishes was that he wanted to have his ashes scattered at Woodbank Cricket Club.
A place which held a special place in his heart, he loved spending time here. As a family, we decided that we would wait until the cricket season was over to scatter Nigel’s ashes, and now the season is over, we cannot fulfil his wishes as someone has stolen them from us.
"I am appealing to the local community and the people of Bury, and I ask that anyone with any knowledge of this crime come forward with information. There must be someone who knows or has any information about this. I am not interested in the return of the power tools, all I want is for my husband’s ashes to be returned to us, so as a family we can fulfil his last wish and lay him to rest. I have already lost my husband, and now I have lost him for a second time."
PC Rhian Toland of GMP's Bury division, previously said: "This behaviour is totally unacceptable and we will work hard to find out the full circumstances and hopefully find the victim’s family ashes so we can return them to her. As you can imagine, the victim has been left terribly upset her home has been broken into and the ashes of her dad have been taken.
“I would like to urge anyone who may have information regarding the burglary, or has witnessed anyone acting suspiciously in the area, to make contact with us immediately so we can follow these line of enquiry and find out the full circumstances of this incident. Residents or businesses with private CCTV are also asked to check for anything that may be of relevance and make contact with us.”
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