A grieving mother today spoke of her “devastation” after crooks ransacked her south London home and stole the ashes of her baby daughter.
Swimming teacher Helen Whiting, 43, was on holiday with her family last month when the phone call came to say their Croydon home had been burgled.
But it wasn’t until her parents-in-law went over to tidy up that they realised what was missing – the modest cloth bag that contained the ashes of little Fleur, who died in 2009 aged just 18 minutes.
“We’re devastated,” Mrs Whiting told the Standard.
“I’d never looked at the box but it went in our bedside drawer.
“I’m not from here, so I’m not emotionally attached to where we live. But it might be one day that I go back to where I’m from and I needed to know that if we were moving she could come with us.
“She lived in this house with us – she came home and she was in our room, and now she’s not.”
She added: “It was a cloth pouch in a cardboard box so perhaps they thought it was something valuable – which, of course, it is to us, but to them it’s useless.
“It was the first week of the holiday and we’ve got two children, so we tried to keep things normal so they could still have a good time – but it was in our minds the whole time.”
Along with the ashes, the burglars took a small metal plaque bearing Fleur’s name – a copy of the one on top of her casket. They also stole jewellery and a sports bag from the Whitings’ Famet Close house.
Fleur died following complications during birth. After the tragedy, Helen and husband Simon raised more than £1,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital in their daughter’s name.
“When there’s a new baby, people buy baby-grows, presents, flowers and all the rest of it,” she said, “and while the flowers came there was no baby to buy for.
“So we wanted to give kids a chance that Fleur didn’t have.”
Police were today appealing for information about the burglary.
Det Const Gordy Ashton said it was likely passers-by saw the fleeing raiders in nearby Riddlesdown Common.
“The victim has been left devastated by the loss of her daughter’s ashes,” he said, “and we are appealing for information or assistance from members of the public to bring about the return of this item and to identify those responsible.
“The burglary took place between 9am on Saturday, August 8, and 7pm on on Tuesday, August 11, and we would like to hear from anyone who may have noticed anyone acting suspiciously during this time at this location.
“We would also like to hear from anyone who may have come across or seen a box matching the description to contact us.”
Anyone with any information is asked to call Croydon CID on 101 quoting reference number CRIS 3823504/15. Alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
