Package Containing Ashes of DC Man's Mother Stolen From His Apartment Building

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A D.C. man mourning his mother now is coping with the theft of her ashes.

Kevin Lynch’s mother, 85-year-old Margaret Lynch, died in a San Diego hospital March 25.

“Her death was very difficult to see,” he said.

Lynch said she had symptoms of the coronavirus.

“I was there,” he said. “It was terrible. I mean, it was a tough experience.”

After his mother died, Lynch said he flew home to D.C. His mother was cremated, and her ashes were mailed in an urn to his apartment building in Northwest.

Lynch said he thought it was lost in the mail when he didn’t received it, but Wednesday night he found out the U.S. Postal Service delivered it last month.

Surveillance video appears to show a man shoving packages — including one that contained the urn — into a bag at the apartment concierge desk.

“How does someone raise someone to be so callous to things that are precious to other people?” Lynch asked.

He filed a police report, and detectives are investigating. They have not released the surveillance video, so News4 blurred the face of the man.

“I would just like to have my mom’s remains returned somehow or found so she can have a proper burial and send off,” Lynch said. Detectives want anyone with information about the crime to call the Metropolitan Police Department.

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