A heartbroken Illinois couple is pleading for the safe return of their son’s ashes that were callously stolen in a home burglary.
The remains of William “Billy” Pax LaDeur — stored in a tiny white box — were among the items swiped from Jim and Sue LaDeur’s ransacked home in Elmhurst on Tuesday, WGN-TV reported.
Little Billy died 10 days after his and twin brother Matt’s birth in 2014.
“It’s like 3 inches by 3 inches, about an inch high, so maybe they thought it was a jewelry box and they just took it,” the distraught mom told the network.
Elmhurst police believe the burglar broke into the family’s home through a side window. Once inside, the perp stole some collector coins in addition to the boy’s remains, police said.
Sue said she kept the small box on a dresser alongside a small impression of her late son’s hand and foot — items she and her husband cherished daily some five years after his death.
“It’s of no value to anybody but it’s invaluable to us,” LaDeur told the station. “Please do the right thing.”
Billy and Matt were born about nine weeks premature. The infant died in the hospital after suffering from excessive fluid retention in the womb, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“We held him until he passed,” Sue LaDeur told the newspaper. “We fought. We fought for him then. And we’ll fight for him now and do everything we can.”
A label on the stolen box bears the name of a crematorium, the LaDeurs said.
“It’s your baby,” Sue LaDeur told the Tribune. “He should stay with you. A baby doesn’t get separated from his parents.”
No arrests had been made as of midday Friday, Elmhurst police told The Post. Anyone with information about the case is asked to call (630) 530-3050.