A woman has been left “angry and upset” after a suitcase containing money for her late mother's headstone and donations for an animal rescue charity disappeared. Sue McInally, 64, from Newton-le-Willows, had spent recent months caring for her mother Margaret Shelcott, 86, in Lincolnshire, after she suffered two strokes.
Margaret passed away on July 13 and after her funeral on August 10, Sue began emptying her mother's bungalow. On Sunday, August 30, Sue arrived back at her Johnson Avenue home at approximately 4pm carrying multiple bags, including a suitcase. Inside were £179 in donations collected for an animal rescue charity, along with £720 set aside for her mum's headstone, treasured photographs, documents and clothes belonging to Sue.
Discovery of the loss
Sue explained that while bringing the various bags indoors, she must have accidentally left the suitcase either on the pavement or in her car, only discovering this the next morning at around 11am. By then, the suitcase and its entire contents had vanished.
Sue said: ”I had so much to unload - boxes, photo albums and all sorts of things - so that took me about 45 minutes. “Because I'd been in the car for nearly four hours, I took the dog straight out, came back, had a cup of tea and went to bed. It wasn't until the following day, on Monday, when I went to look for it to unpack it and get my clothes. That's when I realised it was missing. “I don't even remember taking it out of the car, so I don't know whether it was taken from the pavement or taken from inside the car with the boot open.”
Emotional toll
Sue said it is yet another blow for her in what has been a very difficult time, reports the Liverpool Echo. She said: “I've had a really stressful couple of months and obviously had just buried my mum. I was heartbroken. “I visited her every day in Lincoln stroke ward for six weeks, and she didn't wake up or speak to me. It was heartbreaking, traveling there every day knowing she wasn't going to speak to me, but knowing I couldn't not travel there. Then she went to a hospice for three days and passed away. “The £179 we'd collected for the charity, they didn't know I'd done that. If I'd already told them, I'd be mortified. “I've still got a headstone to pay for, so I did sell some furniture and some jewellery, and there was nearly £720 in an envelope to pay for her headstone as well. Now, I didn't put that on Facebook because it just sounds like I'm going, ‘oh dear, I've lost money’.”
“In a way I'm lucky because normally all my mum's paperwork, everything to do with the will and the probate and everything, was in a folder in the case. “But I lost all my clothes, even the dress I bought for the funeral, and a picture of my mum and dad's wedding day. “I was upset, then angry, then more upset. I was devastated and really upset about the money, because there 20, 30 people at the funeral who all put money in in the belief it was going to the rescue that looked after my mum's cat.”
“My brother and my father are already buried in the churchyard, so you've got to remove the headstone and have it redone. That's got to be paid for. “I've been living on adrenaline, so I haven't been home for over a month. I managed to get home on Sunday and I could've just done without this.”
Search and appeal
Sue said as soon as she realised it was missing, she rang her son to help look for it, but they have had no luck. They have also contacted the police to see if they can help. Sue said: “We've looked everywhere. The road's been dug up outside, and we even looked in the holes just in case it, the wind had blown it or something into a hole, but it's gone. “I thought somebody might have seen the suitcase, even if they'd taken it to the end of the road, took the money, and left everything else. I've had a couple of friends and myself walk around the area because we've got lots of walking fields around here, and I can't find it anywhere.”
At this stage, Sue is hoping that the suitcase will be brought back. She said: “I doubt very much the person who took it is going to give me the money back, but they could put the suitcase outside a shop somewhere, put it on Facebook anonymously, and I could go and collect it. “At least I'd have my clothes back. I was (in Lincoln) for such a long time, and the weather changed. I had to buy some jumpers and cardigans, my funeral outfit - I know that it's not a lot, but it was new. There were two handbags in there. They don't need the photographs. The clothes are no good to them.”
“I'd been (in Lincoln) since the beginning of August. The funeral was on August 10. Then of course I had to empty the bungalow. I've been sleeping in the living room on a mattress as the bungalow's become increasingly empty. “I just really wanted to be home, and it shouldn't have ended like that.”
