Mother recovers son’s ashes lost at Kansas City Zoo

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    KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV) — A Blue Springs woman has recovered her son’s ashes after losing his cremation box at the Kansas City Zoo Sunday.

Carmen Stiles’ 21-year-old son, Eric Vickers, died Dec. 6, 2020 after he crashed his Ford Mustang into the bridge at U.S. 24 Highway and Arlington Street.

Stiles says every day that goes by without her son is difficult, but having his ashes with her during trips and outings helps her cope with his loss.

During her family trip to the Zoo on Sunday, one of Stiles’ children moved the cremation box from a wagon to a nearby chair. Stiles didn’t realize they left the cremation box behind until nearly 20 minutes later, when the family had already moved on to a different area of the zoo.

“[I felt] absolute devastation. I’ve already fallen apart completely from losing him once and then losing him a whole second time was just unbearable,” said Stiles.

An employee at the zoo contacted Stiles Monday morning to let her know a worker found a bag with ashes, but not a cremation box.

“The box is just a box. I got the most valuable, the most important thing back that I didn’t think I was going to get,” said Stiles after getting her son’s ashes back.

Stiles says her son loved the mountains in Colorado. After recovering her son’s ashes, she’s made it a priority to fulfill her wish of scattering his ashes during a trip to his favorite spot.

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