Stolen Ashes Still Unreturned To South Amboy Woman After Burglary

SOUTH AMBOY, NJ — To whoever broke into my home last week: Please bring my husband's ashes back. That's the message from a South Amboy woman, who said her home was broken into sometime between Oct. 24 and Oct. 30 and the thieves made off with the box containing her late husband's ashes.

And right now, all she wants is the bright green box returned, no questions asked.

The South Amboy police department first reported the news when they put up a public Facebook post Wednesday asking for the emerald green box containing the ashes to be returned. A $500 reward for the ashes has now been offered by a group called Friends of South Amboy.

The family of the homeowner, Liz Liposky, 76, told NBC she was away from Oct. 24 to Oct. 30 and when she returned to her home on Oct. 30 she found her front door kicked in, off its hinges. Her home had been ransacked; the burglars tore her bedroom apart and upended dresser drawers.

The burglars had grabbed her wedding jewelry as well as the green plastic box. The family thinks the burglars just snatched anything in site, thinking the bright green box contained more jewelry.

But instead, it contained the ashes of Liposky's husband, Michael Liposky, to whom she had been married to for 49 years and died from from pancreatic cancer in 2011.

"She's distraught; she doesn't even want to be home," her niece Jamie Stratton told NBC New York. "Right now, she says she feels like they tore another piece of her heart away."

A Naval teddy bear had sat on top of the green box. That's because Michael had served in the Navy. There were also some photos of the couple on top of the box.

Liposky planned to one day have her ashes be placed next to her husband's.

Stratton told News12 New Jersey that the ashes can simply be placed in a mailbox or on a local church doorstep.

"We don't want to get you in trouble … Bring my uncle back to his final resting place with his wife,” said the niece.

South Amboy police say the box may or may not be in a brown cardboard box. The boxes would both have labels stating it contains cremated remains with a registration number and should state “Gundrum's Service Home for funerals."

If anyone locates the box or its contents please contact the South Amboy Police Department at 732-721-0111. There is a $500 reward being offered by the Friends of South Amboy organization for the safe return of the remains.