Interior of the Cruz family mausoleum (Photo courtesy of the Cruz family)
The family of Maria Pilar Cruz lost her twice.
The first time was almost 15 years ago when she died. This time thieves entered the family mausoleum at Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque and stole the urn containing her ashes.
The Cruz family was informed by the caretaker that two urns were stolen from their mausoleum on Orchid Street inside the private cemetery around 7:45 a.m. Monday.
One of the urns – a gold-plated one with a cross design and had inscription of Cruz’s name – contained the ashes of Maria Pilar, younger sister Fatima Cruz-De Jesus told the Inquirer.
She said the other empty steel urn used to house the ashes of their mother, Irenea.
“We were just fortunate that we had her ashes moved to another urn,” De Jesus said. “If we didn’t we would be looking for two of our family members.”
In a report by Eight Arms Security, the security agency of Manila Memorial Park in Sucat, they discovered that there was no “forcible entry,” as the sliding glass windows were left open and had no markings.
Maria Pilar Cruz (Photo courtesy of the Cruz family)
The suspects also did not break the locks of the columbariums inside the mausoleum as the keys were put inside the locks.
The Cruz family lamented how the cruel fate of Pipie, as they fondly called Maria Pilar, seemed to repeat itself after almost 15 years.
“It was just so sad that after finding her 15 years ago after almost a year of searching, here she is again being taken away from us,” Fatima said of her Ate Pipie.
After missing for 10 months in April 2003, Pipie, a 35-year-old bank analyst based in New York, was found stuffed in a suitcase buried under a concrete flooring in a garage of a house in Newark, New Jersey on Feb. 18, 2004.
According to New Jersey police, she was killed during a botched operation by quack doctor Dean Faiello. He is detained at Attica prison, serving a 20-year prison term for first-degree assault and unauthorized practice of medical profession.
It was much more painful for Pipie’s father, Rodolfo Sr., who flew to the United States and distributed fliers in search of her missing daughter in the streets of New York in 2003.
“Why does this have to happen? We already found her and now she’s missing again,” cried the 86-year-old father when he visited again the mausoleum on Wednesday.
“Papa goes to the cemetery every day because he wants to be there when Pipie’s ashes were returned,” said Tess Cruz-Lara, an elder sister of Pipie.
The father used to visit the mausoleum every day when he could still drive, but the visits became fewer due to his old age.
The family last visited Pipie in January last year.
The Cruz family appealed to those who took away the urns to just return the ashes of Pipie just in time for her birthday on Friday, March 9. She would have been 50.
“I am appealing to their conscience, please return the ashes of my sister. You don’t need to return the urns, we just want Ate Pipie,” Fatima said.
“Sa kumuha sa anak ko, ibalik mo lang siya, magpapasalamat pa ako sa iyo. Kahit lumuhod pa ako sa harap mo, maibalik lang siya,” Rodolfo said, sobbing.
Fatima expressed disappointment on how the management of Manila Memorial Park handled the theft of her sister’s urn.
“It was upset because they were one of the biggest cemeteries and yet a theft case like this happened,” she said.
In an interview, Manila Memorial Park-Sucat manager Dennis Zalameda admitted there were no security cameras near the crime scene. The cameras were only placed at the gates and the parking lot.
“This is the first time that an urn was taken away inside the cemetery,” Zalameda said.
He said they have 41 security personnel were deployed on three shifts throughout the 100-hectare cemetery.
Zalameda said they had already coordinated with the police, their personnel and even the three informal settler communties in the cemetery perimeter for the possible arrest of the thieves and return of Pipie’s ashes.
Meanwhile, Senior Insp. Jerry Sunga, chief investigator of the Parañaque City Police Station, said the priority was to identify whoever took the urns.
“We are investigating if the culprits were personnel from the cemetery or even from the communities nearby,” he said.
They will also investigate if the there were security lapses on the part of Manila Memorial Park.
“They are a big private cemetery so their clients were expecting tighter security,” he said. /atm