Crime

Guilty Criminals? Stolen Ashes of Infant Returned to Baby’s Mother After Discovery on Hawaiian Beach

Stolen Ashes of Infant Found on Beach, Returned to Babys Mother

Leimomi Kahele holds a picture of her son Horace, who was born 15 weeks premature in 2004 and died shortly afterwards. An urn containing his ashes was stolen when her Hawaii home was ransacked earlier this week. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)

An infant‘s ashes that were stolen from a Hawaii home have been found and returned to the baby’s mother, ending a heart wrenching search that began earlier this week.

“I’m speechless, I’m literally sick to my stomach speechless,” the mother, Leimomi Kahele told KHON-TV after she got the remains back.

A bag containing the ashes of Kahel’s five-day-old son Horace was discovered on a Hawaii beach Thursday, placed on a step leading down to the beach and next to a photo album also taken from the home.

“They obviously knew what they did was wrong,” said Kahele, 25, according to the Associated Press. “They put our photo album and his ashes in such a beautiful place. It wasn’t just some bushes on the side of the road.”

Kahele’s home was broken into Wednesday, and among the items stolen was an urn containing the ashes of her premature son, who died just five days after he was born in 2004. Cash, a DVD player and other belongings were taken as well. The urn remains missing, but the ashes themselves were found by a woman walking on the beach.

The woman called her neighbor and after an Internet search, the pair realized they had found the ashes that had been publicized on the local news the day before.

“I got chills all over my body,” the neighbor, Tupu Wheeler said. “This mother has lost her baby all over again.”

Meanwhile, Kahele and her family had been driving all over the North Shore of Oahu searching for signs of the baby’s remains. She got a call from KHON, which first reported the theft, saying the ashes had been found.

“When she handed me that bag, it was a weight lifted off me,” Kahele said. “I felt warm inside again.”

The entire ordeal forced her to relive being an 18-year-old first-time mom, going into labor 15 weeks early and making the decision to take her newborn off life support.

“It’s heartbreaking when you lose a child,” Kahele said. “When I lost him again it was 100 times more devastating.”

Now that she has his remains back, she’s come up with a new way to store them.

“I used to sleep with his urn, and it was hard and ceramic,” Kahele said. She now plans to buy a soft, cuddly teddy bear and sew the bag of ashes inside: “I want to be able to feel like I’m holding him again.”

Comments (24)

  • OBAMA IS A FOUL EVIL TRAITOR
    Posted on December 18, 2011 at 9:57pm

    No Problem! She is a Welfare Queen and is spitting out mutants by the minute. She probably already has 10-20 bastards and doesn‘t know who the ’Fathers’ are anyway!

    Report Post » OBAMA IS A FOUL EVIL TRAITOR  
  • aquablue
    Posted on December 17, 2011 at 11:25pm

    Having the ashes stolen would likely lead to another grieving process. I like the idea of putting the ashes in a teddy bear. It seems less cold than an urn.

    Report Post » aquablue  
  • COFemale
    Posted on December 17, 2011 at 1:47pm

    This happened where I live, a man kept his wife’s ashes on a mantle in the house and thieves stole the urn. The urn was returned about a month later, anonymously of course.

    Report Post » COFemale  
  • hgaut
    Posted on December 17, 2011 at 12:45pm

    Everyone handles grief differently. If I were in her shoes I’d probably do the teddy bear thing too. Until you‘ve loss someone you love don’t judge. If you can bury them in a cemetary and go on with your life then that’s cool. But let others do it their way without judging.

    Report Post » hgaut  
  • whatthecrazy
    Posted on December 17, 2011 at 11:12am

    Until you have truly loved someone and then lost them, especially a child , and you are the one who felt its very excistence moving,playing,kicking,hickuping and litterally doing acrobats as a mom you simply are in love with it.Anyways a story with a bitter sweet ending……………..

    Report Post »  
  • Gamaliel
    Posted on December 17, 2011 at 10:35am

    To MEMADMAX and those of you who are judging the “correct” way of grieving the loss of a child (including time limits) have obviously not been through it.

    Report Post »  
  • Jenny Lind
    Posted on December 17, 2011 at 10:19am

    She is a far better person than I am, but I get it. She has her priority right-some things are more important than others. She isn’t done grieving, and won’t be done until she is done. We all grieve in our own way and there is no right or wrong way. God bless her, may she find peace.

    Report Post »  
  • ZengaPA65
    Posted on December 17, 2011 at 9:39am

    Interesting how the blaze keeps posting this stories to keep everyone distracted while the most heinous crime that’s ever been perpetrated on the American people goes unreported.

    http://www.prisonplanet.com/while-americans-shopped-the-constitution-was-shredded.html

    Report Post » ZengaPA65  
    • Metalist
      Posted on December 17, 2011 at 6:15pm

      Interesting how Alex Jones’ minion come here and advertise for their website. They must really be hurting for traffic. lol

      Report Post » Metalist  
  • MeMadMax
    Posted on December 17, 2011 at 9:02am

    I know that she is a mother, a woman, and all that… but…. the baby passed away about 7/8 years ago right?
    Time to let go, maybe?

    Report Post » MeMadMax  
    • COFemale
      Posted on December 17, 2011 at 1:41pm

      You never get over the loss of a child EVER! Apparently, you are male and heartless. May God forgive you for your coldness.

      Report Post » COFemale  
    • Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American
      Posted on December 17, 2011 at 2:17pm

      That’s up to her, buddy. My sister’s daughter died at birth. She didn‘t keep ashes or anything but she still cries when she thinks about it and it’s been years. Who are you to say how someone should grieve just because YOU would have “let it go” a long time ago?

      Report Post » Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American  
    • bionicman
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 1:18pm

      Sorry, but I referenced post of @ISLANDMAMA instead of @MEMADMAX. Sorry, MEMADMAX.

      Report Post »  
    • bionicman
      Posted on December 19, 2011 at 1:32pm

      @COFEMALE (I must have cancelled firrst post by accident)

      It is understandable that a grieving mother might keep the ashes their dead child for a period of time. In this case, even after 7 years, probably triggered by the theft of those ashes, Mahele plans on sewing the bag of ashes in a “soft, cuddly teddy bear” so she can feel like she’s holding him. I agree with @MEMADMAX, in part. There appears to be is some serious pathology here and I believe she should have some grief counseling.

      Report Post »  
  • Eliasim
    Posted on December 17, 2011 at 8:51am

    I don”t believe them when they say crime is down, because I am seeing more reports. I’ll tell you it seems to me the theft of metals is up, and it seems as if murders are sky-rocketing, and it seems as if the unemployment rate really has not dropped to 8 percent suddenly. Of course when Nancy Pelosi says that ‘Extending unemployment will increase employment’, then no wonder the numbers are dropping. Because apparently they count unemployment as “Working for the government.” I don’t believe this lying cheating government when they will not speak the truth about the State of the Union, and the Congress has insider trading (which isn’t representation).

    Report Post »  
  • IslandMama
    Posted on December 17, 2011 at 8:50am

    Doesn‘t sound healthy to sew a dead infant’s ashes into a teddy bear to cuddle it. It seems like she needs therapy to me.

    Report Post »  
    • COFemale
      Posted on December 17, 2011 at 1:45pm

      Ah, where do you get teddy bear. The ashes were in an urn. Do you even comprehend what you read or did you just decide to comment without reading?

      How she honors her deceased child in none of your business and frankly she probably doesn’t care what you think. Who do you think you are that you can comment how and how long she should grieve. Arrogant!

      Report Post » COFemale  
    • COFemale
      Posted on December 17, 2011 at 1:49pm

      My mistake, she plans to put the ashes in a teddy bear now. I guess I should practice what I preach. I missed that last sentence. My apologies Island Mama.

      Report Post » COFemale  
  • Baddoggy
    Posted on December 17, 2011 at 8:36am

    She said “People make mistakes, they were grabbing stuff and didnt know what they got. Things are replaceable. He is not”. So she excused the robbery? I can’t understand this line of thinking. I can fogive, but I sure as hell want the perps punished for stealing my stuff.

    Report Post » Baddoggy  
    • klevalt
      Posted on December 17, 2011 at 11:59am

      I still don’t lock my door when I leave… I don’t have much, but those things that I don’t want to lose, I carry with me when I leave the house…. my weapon and my ID. My thought is, “if they want to see that I have nothing of worth here, I’m not going to have to repair the damage for them to find out… and if something is missing, well they must have needed it much more than me.”

      Report Post » klevalt  
    • Brooke Lorren
      Posted on December 17, 2011 at 3:39pm

      It’s not excusing the robbery, IMO. If someone is going to steal something, however, it‘s better that they don’t steal things that could never be replaced. They should still be prosecuted, but if your stolen items can never be replaced, then that is a lot worse than having something like a television stolen that insurance would cover, or you could eventually save up to buy another one.

      Report Post »  

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