A 75-year-old lady in East L.A. thought she was serving to out a stranger. As an alternative, her household says, thieves drove off with a gold necklace that was priceless to her as a result of it carried the ashes of her late daughter.
“She was crying hysterically, saying, ‘They stole my chain, they stole my chain!’” mentioned Jesse Guerrero, 57, the girl’s son.
The incident occurred on Dec. 15 after Esther Guerrero and her husband returned to their dwelling within the 300 block of Gerhart Avenue after a purchasing journey to downtown L.A.
Guerrero had simply stopped to let her husband out and was making her method to the again of her Ford Explorer to seize her baggage when she seen a white automobile drive previous after which reverse again towards her SUV.
Esther Guerrero holds a portrait of her late daughter, Veronika Garcia, a retired deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division who died Could 3 in a automobile crash in Idaho.
(KTLA)
Jesse Guerrero mentioned the folks within the white automobile referred to as his mom over and mentioned, “My mother’s actually sick, have you learnt if there’s a pharmacy close by?”
Guerrero’s mom walked towards the window of the automobile to offer them instructions. Inside she noticed two ladies and a younger youngster, he mentioned. She additionally seen a knife close to the middle console and determined to maneuver away from the automobile.
However Guerrero mentioned a lady who was sitting within the backseat saved speaking to his mom and acquired out of the automobile, saying she needed to thank her for the instructions.
He mentioned the girl supplied his mom cash.
“My mother, she tried to push her away and mentioned, ‘No, I don’t want something,’” Guerrero mentioned.
However the lady insisted, supplied to offer his mother a series and tried to place it round her neck. Guerrero mentioned his mom resisted and refused the chain. The girl then hugged his mom.
Sooner or later, Guerrero mentioned, the girl took his mom’s gold necklace and golden cross from her and left an affordable chain hanging round her neck. The girl hurried again contained in the automobile and drove away.
His mom mentioned that “as they sped away, she seen it was gone,” Guerrero mentioned.
Jesse Guerrero lives throughout the road from his mother and father and mentioned he was driving north on Gerhart Avenue quickly after the theft when he noticed his mom on the road, crying.
It wasn’t the misplaced necklace that sparked her despair, he mentioned, however the gold cross, which carried the ashes of Esther Guerrero’s daughter.
Veronika Garcia, a retired deputy with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division, died Could 3 in a automobile crash in Idaho. After her loss of life, Jesse Guerrero mentioned, Garcia’s husband gifted her mother and father with two an identical gold necklaces with a cross.
The golden cross has two distinct wings making up its horizontal half, he mentioned, and carry a few of Garcia’s ashes inside.
He mentioned his mom had worn and saved that cross together with her because it was given to her.
His mom informed him the white automobile, which gave the impression to be an Audi, drove towards Beverly Boulevard. Guerrero continued to drive, on the lookout for the automobile, however was unable to find it.
He’s pushed across the space these previous days along with his mom, hoping to acknowledge the ladies who took the cross from her. Guerrero additionally has visited pawn outlets, hoping to search out it.
Up to now week, he mentioned, he and his siblings have been making an attempt to maintain his mom busy with Christmas preparations. She’s been heartbroken by the theft, he mentioned, they usually’re making an attempt to maintain her from dwelling on it.
Detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Division have been assigned to the case, and Guerrero mentioned he’d additionally reached out to different police departments about related incidents. Nonetheless, they’ve had no luck.
Now, he mentioned, he and his household are making a public plea and asking the individuals who took the necklace to return the cross.
“We’re hoping they throw it on the grass, toss it on the porch, or put it within the mailbox, no matter it’s,” he mentioned. “As my mother mentioned — ‘All I would like is the cross, neglect the chain. I simply want the cross.’”
