PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – A South Florida woman is feeling joy and relief after her late husband’s ashes were returned.
They were stolen from her Pembroke Pines home earlier this week along with a safe.
Now, Maria Araya said she is able to sleep in peace.
“I feel so happy, I can’t believe it,” she said. “It’s like a miracle that he’s back to me again.”
On Wednesday, Local 10 News reported on the crooks who broken into Araya’s home.
They cut through the screen of her back porch and smashed through a window to get inside.
The crooks then took a small safe with money and documents inside, but that’s not what Araya was concerned about.
Rather, the most meaningful property was a memorial lockbox with the ashes of her late husband Juan Araya, who passed away nine years ago.
“I asked God, ‘please God, use your power and blessing, bring my husband’s ashes to me,’” she said.
Her prayers were answered after two city workers located the memorial lockbox down the road from her home.
“He’s like a treasure,” she said. “He was my angel in life, now he’s an angel in heaven.”