HOUSTON – A Houston couple has filed a lawsuit against the owner of a local cemetery after the urn containing their daughter’s ashes was stolen last January. The emotional toll of the theft has led the family to seek justice, claiming the cemetery’s parent company failed to take adequate steps to prevent the crime. The couple is seeking $1 million in damages.
Obed Rosales and his wife are still reeling from the loss of their daughter, Ariana, who was stillborn several weeks into the pregnancy.
“She was our third, and we know she was stillborn. I still relive that day,” Rosales said. “The only words I heard were, ‘I’m sorry, there’s no heartbeat.’”
Since then, the couple and their family made frequent visits to Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery to honor their daughter. But those visits stopped after the burglary.
According to a copy of the police report from the Harris County Precinct 6 Constable’s Office, the theft occurred last January, when not only Ariana’s urn but also several other items.
“It was tough losing her once, and then losing her again was just another blow to us,” Rosales said, speaking about the devastating impact of the theft on his family.
The couple is now suing Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home, alleging negligence on the part of the cemetery’s management. In the lawsuit, they argue that the company failed to provide sufficient security, allowing the theft to happen in the first place.
“From January 26, 2021, to January 26, 2024, there have been over 80 criminal incidents at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home. These crimes range from theft and burglary to aggravated assault. In a one-mile radius, over 2,700 crimes have occurred,” the lawsuit alleges.
KPRC 2 has not independently confirmed this.
“Plaintiffs have been denied the resting place and ashes of their child; they can no longer grieve. They are devastated and have suffered severe mental anguish, leading to a mental breakdown,” the lawsuit adds.
“Cemeteries have a duty to their patrons to provide safe, secure areas for their loved ones’ remains,” the family’s attorney, Omar Khawaja, said. “This is a large corporation that unfortunately does not prioritize the care of their patrons over what I believe to be their profits.”
A spokesperson for the cemetery, in a statement to KPRC 2, said they have increased security.
“We have implemented several measures over time to help increase security, including additional cameras, limiting access to the park, and extra patrol by law enforcement,” the statement reads. “We encourage visitors to the park to be vigilant and always notify the office of suspicious behavior. As always, we urge anyone with information about theft of any kind to report it to law enforcement.”
The emotional toll of losing their daughter was already immense for the Rosales family, but the theft of Ariana’s urn has left them with nowhere to grieve.
“We can’t spend birthdays or Christmas with her physically here. And now, because of this, we can’t do that at all,” Obed said, scrolling through his phone to show pictures of past visits to the cemetery.
Rosales admits to regularly doing a Google reverse image search to check if anyone has posted about finding the urn.
“Just knowing that my daughter is out there somewhere—even if she were alive—knowing that your daughter is out there somewhere alive, wouldn’t that be heartbreaking? If you want to keep your daughter, remember her, and love her because now you don’t have her. And now she’s out there somewhere, and I don’t know where she’s at. That hurts,” Rosales said.
Forest Park Lawndale full statement:
“Theft of any kind is unacceptable, but the theft of a final resting place is particularly heartbreaking. We have implemented several measures over time to help increase security, including additional cameras, limiting access to the park and extra patrol by law enforcement. We encourage visitors to the park to be vigilant and always notify the office of suspicious behavior, and, as always, we urge anyone with information about theft of any kind to report it to law enforcement.”
