Several metal flower vases worth about $1,000 each were stolen from the grave sites at a cemetery in Bonita, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office reported Friday.
The thefts have occurred since mid-October from the Glen Abbey Memorial Park and Mortuary in the 3800 block of Bonita Road, according to a sheriff's statement.
Sheriff's detectives were investigating the thefts, and no suspects have been identified.
Erlinda and Rey Billones were married for 54 years. They raised children and grandchildren. The two were inseparable until cancer took Erlinda.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
“It happened before our anniversary," Rey said. “It took me a while to forget about what happened.”
Five years later, Rey, his oldest son and daughter, Rowena, pray the rosary at her grave in Glen Abbey Memorial Park and Mortuary every Friday. Rey also visits Wednesdays and sometimes Sundays.
The family purchased an engraved head stone and matching bronze flower vase only to discover the vase had been stolen. It was replaced with a plastic vase.
Local
"It looks real, but it is plastic, and I told them this is not what I paid for," Rey said.
Others weren’t replaced at all. You can see the empty holes.
Rey says the vase on his wife’s grave was lifted five months ago.
"They said that it's being melted, making jewelry of some sort. Making money or selling it. We don't really know," Rowena said. "They need to have security here. It is always isolated, people coming and going."
In part of a letter sent to some families, Glen Abbey Management wrote: “We are deeply saddened by these incidents and are taking immediate action to address the situation and support affected families.”
Victims of any vase thefts at the cemetery were asked to call and file a crime report with the Imperial Beach sheriff's substation at 619-498-2400.
