Mother's ashes returned after Concord burglary

CONCORD, Calif. (KTVU) - Lori Garcia felt violated after burglars broke into her Concord home and made off with items of sentimental value, including her mother's ashes and a wedding ring. But police quickly cracked the case.

Garcia is relieved that she got it all back and is grateful for the work by Concord police.

"One of the things that was taken was a small pot that says 'bingo money' on it that contained some of my mother's ashes as she recently passed, some of the jewelry that she passed on to me before she passed, a gold egg, some rings," Garcia said.

There were other things that couldn't be replaced.

"A friend of mine, a 97-year-old man gave me some World War II bags," she said. "He was in the service and he passed those on to me. So those were all stolen."

The thieves also took clothes, shoes, jackets, some electronics and "went through, really, everything in my house," she said.

"There's something wrong, to have the lack of feeling or concern for other people and their security and their privacy. I mean, my privacy was totally invaded," Garcia said.

The burglars also stole her pickup truck.

Concord police Sgt. Carl Cruz heads the department's financial crimes unit

"This is a very personal crime because, think about it. You have an unknown person breaking into your sanctuary, your home, your castle. and going through all the personal items and then taking them," Cruz said.

Police worked quickly. just a day after the break-in last month, officers found garcia's truck near an RV park and arrested Candace Ternes and Seyyed Mirlohi. 

Investigators learned that they had a storage shed in Martinez. A search uncovered Garcia's stolen property, which police returned to her.

"When we get to actually bring something back to the community, in this case, irreplaceable items, such as those that were stolen, it makes me feel good," Cruz said. "I go home with a win under the win column."