Redford family's struggles grow after SUV with baby's cremated remains inside was stolen

REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (FOX 2) - For one Redford Township family, it's been a tough year.

And it's not getting any easier after one of the members of the family had their car stolen. As Rhonda Mitchell puts it, it's what was inside the vehicle that they're desperately trying to get back.

"Cars can be replaced. We would like the ashes," she said.

Mitchell said someone stole her niece's 2023 Black Chevy Blazer, which had been parked on Fenton Street in front of her home in Redford Township. Inside the SUV was the cremated remains of her niece's baby - something they'd desperately like to have back.

"She’s still in the grieving process and now it’s just triggering it all over again," said Mitchell. "The wounds - it’s just unbearable."

Mitchell's niece suffered through a still birth back in May and just got the remains back in a heart-shaped case that's the color of purple. It was also engraved with the baby's name: Ariah Rose Brown.

Before the tragedy, Mitchell said the family had been going through a number of painful losses, including losing family members.

"From the loss of my brother-in-law being murdered, to my niece losing the baby to the baby being cremated to the car being stolen to the grandmother’s passing - it’s been one thing after another," she said.

According to a neighbor who saw the theft, it happened in an instant.

"I peeped out the window and I heard the car go off and it was just that quick. Just took off," she said. "And I couldn’t see anything else it was just dark."

The stolen car had a license plate of DUV 5623. If anyone recognizes the vehicle, they're asked to call police.