A Winnipeg family says they have been reunited with a loved one’s ashes a week after the remains were stolen from a vehicle in the city’s West End and feared lost for good. Guy Lafleur said his mother received a call from the Winnipeg Police Service on Saturday telling her the remains of his youngest sister had been recovered. They were returned to the family later that afternoon, he said. “My mom was just crushed when they were gone, but when they were returned, she was just so happy,” Lafleur said in an interview Monday. “Now they’re back. She’s just full of life now.” Lafleur said he was told a boy playing in a front yard on Toronto Street noticed the remains and brought them to his mother, who then took them to a police station. Lafleur said the ashes were taken from his mother’s car, which was parked on Toronto Street, sometime between midnight and about 8 a.m. on Oct. 10. He said his mother was staying with his nephew to help care for the children while he works, as the family is waiting for daycare spots to open up. She had brought items from her place, but because it was late and she was tired, she decided to bring them inside in the morning. “We never thought nothing of it,” Lafleur said. “But from now on, we know not to hold off on it. Just bring everything in.” He said his mother’s Jeep Compass was locked overnight before the family discovered it had been ransacked the next morning. Among the items missing was a wooden box that he said contained the ashes of his youngest sister, who was murdered in 2024 at the age of 25. “We want to get a burial site, but my mom’s having a hard time letting go, you know, because that was her baby,” he said. The family feared the worst after the theft, Lafleur said, including that the ashes might have been thrown in the garbage and ended up in a landfill. “But we are so grateful that we got them back.” Lafleur said the family wants to thank whoever turned the ashes in. “We’re just so happy and overcome with joy,” he said. “There are good people still out there. There are some bad people, but there’s way more better people than there are bad people.” CTV News has contacted the Winnipeg Police Service for more information. Police have acknowledged the request.
