This past weekend we wrote about a van that was stolen with a dog’s ashes inside. Katie Barloon emailed us to say that her van was discovered at an apartment complex at 137th and Linden but the urn with Harry’s ashes was not inside. She says that when someone from the apartment complex called 911, her van it didn’t show up as stolen. “I’m sure that Harry’s urn is on the side of the road or in a parking lot somewhere,” Barloon writes. If you have information you can contact Katie at samandkatie@mac.com.
Stolen van found, ashes still missing
![](https://www.myballard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-My-Ballard-Tile-Ad-Troop-100.png")
Interesting, and sad. I certainly hope that someone recognizes the urn, and turns it over.
“when someone from the apartment complex called 911, her van it didn’t show up as stolen.”
How does that happen?
Best of luck Katie!
“”when someone from the apartment complex called 911, her van it didn’t show up as stolen.”
How does that happen?”
It happened when my friend's car was stolen too. Apparently the SPD has a list of stolen vehicles and when someone reports an abandoned vehicle they check it against the list. In the case of my friend the person who called in the vehicle got the license plate wrong so it didn't come up stolen and had to go through the whole orange sticker thing until it got impounded, then they figured out it was his after they got the car in their possession. Yes, he did have to pay the impound fee, unlike if the system worked and he could have picked it up where it was found.
Katie, I'm so sorry to hear this. Harry was so cute and its sad you had to loose him so young, and now loose him all over again.
I was hoping to hear of a better outcome when I saw his picture posted again….
My heart leaped when I saw that your van was found, and then I felt so sad when I realized Harry's ashes weren't in it. I'm so sorry. I truly hope you are able to retrieve the urn somehow.
Oh, I'm so sorry this happened to Katie. How completely awful!
I'll keep a lookout for the urn and hope for the best. Stranger things have happened than the return of a stolen urn!
A couple of years ago, I reported my car stolen on a Monday morning. A roommate of mine spotted what he believed to be my car on Thursday evening several blocks away. The police had been ticketing the car at least once a day (4 tickets under the wiper blade). I was able to get out of having to pay for the tickets but never got a decent explanation how they had it reported as stolen and continued to ticket it.
Thanks again myballard. I'm so happy to see my story updated.
Yes, it is correct. I was told that someone called my van in to 911, and the operator said plate did not show up on the hot sheet. Regardless, I'm happy to have the car back at least. I don't think if the van had shown up stolen, the outcome would have been any different. I'm learning the word of mouth and community support is just as important!
Thanks to everyone, and keep your eye out. The urn still may be in it's original cardboard box.
Katie
Same thing happened to me. Car stolen, and when it was finally “found”, it turns out it had been ticketed three times.
It's sad to think about the efficiencies SPD (and local & national government) could achieve if they had even a halfway decent information architecture.
Did you get the urn back with ashes inside? I'm not clear from the posts here. I wish you well.
You might want to change Katie's email on here to “at” and “dot” so she doesn't get a bunch of spam.
Barbara- No urn, no ashes. Just a trashed van!
Keep your eye out. Im coming to terms that Harry is probably on the side of the road or a dumpster, which really saddens me! I love to log on and see more comments, as it gives me hope that people are still keeping a look out.
Thanks
K