Heartbroken Saskatoon woman searches for stolen urn with son’s ashes

A Saskatoon mother, who carries her son’s ashes with her everywhere, was heartbroken when she discovered they were stolen from her car.

On Jan. 11, Lisa Braaten said she noticed someone had rummaged through her vehicle parked outside her Churchill neighbourhood home.

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When she couldn’t find her son’s ashes, she thought she might have left them inside and searched her house. She noted her valuables, like custom metal art from artist Rob Jung, or the hat and sunglasses her son used to own, were not taken. All that was taken was the small black urn, which contained her son’s ashes.

“I couldn’t imagine anyone stealing that,” she said.

“I’m not going to get that back, and he’s going to be lost on the streets.”

Braaten’s son, Matthew, died in 2024. Since then, she’s kept him close, bringing him along to places that brought him the most joy.

Braaten said Matthew was an avid snowboarder and felt both peaceful and adventurous in the mountains, which is why she took his ashes to Jasper and Banff last year.

“I just liked having a little piece of him with me,” she said.

Lisa Braaten (R) and her son Matthew Braaten (L). (Lisa Braaten/Submitted)

Braaten said Matthew had told her about a road trip he took to Montana, which inspired her to bring his ashes there too.

“He just talked about all the mountains that he saw and so we took him down there and took him to Yellowstone,” she said.

“He’s just a very important part of my life,” she said as she cried.

Since the urn was stolen, Braaten said she’s contacted police and gone to social media to ask the community for help.

“There’s been a lot of positive reactions. People looking out for it and people sharing the post with their families in this area,” she said.

Braaten said she has been searching for the urn in back alleys in hopes that she can bring Matthew home.

“I love him very much, and it’s very, very precious to me,” she said.

A statement from the Saskatoon Police Service says its lost and found has been notified in the event the urn is turned in.