When Taylor Rivet walked down the aisle July 28, she held a bouquet with two special items – pendants containing her parents’ ashes.
“I put them in my bouquet so it would be like they were walking down the aisle with me,” she told CTV News.
On Monday she lost the pendants in a terrifying break-in in the middle of the night.
“I opened my eyes and there's two kids in my bedroom all dressed in black,” Rivet said. “My first instinct, I started screaming.”
Her husband, Justin, said that’s when he woke up.
“I jump out of bed and see these guys quickly file out of the room. So I jump out of bed and chase them down the stairs and that's when we see them driving away with Taylor's vehicle.”
In the couple’s SUV were electronics, Rivet’s wedding dress and the bouquet that still had the pendants of her parents' ashes.
“That was pretty devastating,” she said.
The stolen vehicle left the couple’s West Hill home and was found abandoned and running in Hazeldell, north of the river, a few hours later, police say.
The couple has yet to get back their car and the wedding dress, but Rivet got her pendants back later that day.
Police arrested three suspects walking near the abandoned vehicle. That comes as a relief to the Rivets but they say it won't be easy to forget what happened, as this isn't the first time their home has been robbed.
“Traumatizing. It's definitely scary,” Taylor said. “It makes me feel angry and violated. Just going to bed at night it’s hard to fall asleep - what if they come back?”
The couple says they're considering moving from their neighbourhood. But for now, they're relieved no one was hurt in the robbery and that their precious keepsakes are back home with them, saying they plan to focus on getting back to their newlywed life.
