Mom begs thieves to return box of stillborn daughter's mementos

GLENN HEIGHTS, Texas - Thieves robbed a Glenn Heights woman of a cherished part of her past. Along with electronics, they took a small box with a dress that would have belonged to her daughter, who was stillborn.

Ana Vega said she and her family are in the process of moving to a new home in Lancaster. Over the weekend they returned to their Glenn Heights trailer and made a disturbing discovery.

“My husband noticed my couches were all moved and everything was on the floor,” Vega said.

New items for her 4-month-old son, a television and other possessions were gone.

“We had his stroller, high chair, and stuff in brand new boxes that we still hadn’t used because he was still too small and I noticed they were gone,” she said.

But no possession was as precious as a small purple box that the thieves took. It was connected to her daughter Liliana who was stillborn at 23 weeks.

“My head started spinning and the first thing I went to is my daughter’s box,” Vega said. “They had a small dress for her to wear. And they gave us the dress and the pictures and they gave us bracelets that she would have worn if she was born alive in the little memory box.”

Vega has cherished the mementos since the day she left the hospital without her daughter.

“When I was discharged it was me and the box. It was me and the purple box, so it has a lot of sentimental value for us,” she said.

Vega said she hopes whoever pried open her door and ransacked her home will grow a conscience and return the box. Everything else can be replaced.

“You can’t go and resell it. You can’t sell it on Facebook. You can’t sell it at a pawn shop or anything. You would basically just throw it away. That’s what hurts the most,” she said.

She was also in the middle of collecting items for a church raffle and had thought about bringing those items home. Now she’s glad she didn’t.

Police are investigating the possibility that the thieves knew the family was in the process of moving and decided to strike knowing they weren’t there much.