Man finds missing ashes of woman on Las Vegas bus stop bench

LAS VEGAS – A missing box filled with the ashes of a woman was recovered in Nevada by a passerby a week after the box and other luggage were taken from a Las Vegas hotel, authorities said.

Ohio brothers Dan and Colten Dalton were in Las Vegas last week with their grandmother to pick up the ashes of their 45-year-old mother Terra Dalton who died while vacationing in the city earlier in the month, The Las-Vegas Review Journal reported.

The family members checked out of the Flamingo Jan. 28 and had 10 hours until their flight back to Ohio, they said. The family left their luggage with the bell desk at the hotel before deciding to pass the time with a walk down The Strip, they said.

The family lost the baggage tag along the walk and they returned to the hotel to discover the luggage and ashes were missing, Colton Dalton said.

The ashes were found on a bus stop bench Tuesday, said Eric Maxwell, a boutique shop owner who was in Las Vegas to shop for his Medford, Oregon, store. Maxwell said he was on his way to the Sands Expo and Convention Center and reported the box to police when he found it.

Camera footage recorded a couple collecting the Daltons’ luggage from the hotel, security personnel told police.

“We are aware of this guest’s claim. Another individual presented this guest’s baggage claim tag to Flamingo staff and was given the luggage. The guest has filed a claim with Las Vegas Metro, and we are working with them to recover the guest’s belongings,” hotel company owner Caesars Entertainment said in a statement.

Police did not say if the couple shown in the footage purposely grabbed the missing ticket and stole the family’s luggage.