Cremated remains of 11-year-old stolen in Tacoma
May 7, 2026, 5:48 AM
A photo of Bishop Romeo, who drowned at 11 years old in a paddleboarding accident. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
A Tacoma woman is asking for help finding the cremated remains of her 11-year-old brother after they were stolen from her car.
Abbirielle Priest said she was moving into a new apartment on Sixth Avenue when her car was broken into. The thief took clothes, suitcases, her birth certificate, and more, but she is only worried about her brother’s ashes.
“I don’t care about the clothes,” she said. “I don’t care about the materialistic things, but my 11-year-old brother is something I can’t get back.”
Bishop Romeo drowned in a paddleboarding accident in 2024. Now, his family is losing him for the second time.
“I feel like I’m going through it all over again,” Priest said.
Priest told KIRO 7 her brother’s ashes were inside a suitcase in the back of her car. In the morning, she left for work and realized everything inside was gone.
She found the suitcase in the stairwell near her garage, but the ashes were not there.
“It’s terrible, it’s horrible, it’s unnerving, it’s disgusting,” she said. “I’m sick, I’m upset, I’m sad, I’m devastated.”
Her apartment’s cameras captured an image of a man going into the building and carrying some of her items through the garage.
Priest posted the pictures on Facebook and got a slew of replies claiming the same man stole things in other parts of town.
Another victim sent her a picture of what appeared to be the same man during a different theft which stuck out to her.
“In the picture, he is actually wearing my t-shirt from a Mariah the Scientist concert I went to like a month ago that he took out of my suitcase,” Priest said.
She is urging anyone who recognizes the man to come forward and shared the following message to him.
“We can make it easy, we can make it hard,” Priest said. “I promise you, hand on the bible, hand on everything I love, on my brother’s life, I am going to get him back.”
Tacoma police confirmed they are investigating but a spokesperson said she is not aware of other thefts involving the same suspect.
