Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Cremated remains stolen at Las Vegas post office

Updated Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018 | 4:23 p.m.

A Las Vegas cremation service is offering a reward for stolen cremated remains.

KVVU-TV in Las Vegas reported Monday that Las Vegas Cremations is hoping a $3,000 reward will lead to the return of three sets of cremated remains.

The company says the remains were in the process of being shipped Friday when someone stole them from one of their employees at a post office. It also said in a statement it is "shocked and saddened by the criminal act."

No information about a suspect was immediately available.

One set of remains stolen belonged to 77-year-old Joel Pugatch, who died last month in Las Vegas.

His daughter, Deborah Pugatch, says the family is devastated. She says her father's memorial service was held Saturday in Parker, Arizona, without his ashes, which were expected to be shipped from Las Vegas to Alabama, where three of his daughters live.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct errors about the location of a memorial service and the employee from whom the remains were stolen. The story also misspelled the first name of Deborah Pugatch. | (December 20, 2018)