Thieves break into woman's car in San Leandro, steal brother's ashes

Woman lunches with friends when thieves broke into car, brother's ashes stolen

An Oakland woman says a container of her brother's ashes was stolen when her car was broken into this weekend at a San Leandro restaurant.

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. - An Oakland woman says a container of her brother's ashes was stolen when her car was broken into this weekend.

Melanie Niblet says she was having lunch with friends at a restaurant on the Marina in San Leandro on Sunday when thieves broke the windows of her car.

They took a backpack that was behind the seat with a memorial container inside. It contains remains of her brother, John Jackson, who died in February 2019.

"I just want my urn back," Niblet said on Tuesday. "It means nothing to you, but it has a lot of value to me. I carry it everywhere I go. It's like he passed away all over again. It's my good luck charm. Everywhere I go, he's with me. So I just want the urn back. Forget the backpack, and the wallet. I don't care about any of those material things. I just want my brother's urn back."

She described the container as being small, about the size of a key fob and silver.

San Leandro police are waiting for results of fingerprint tests for evidence.