Albuquerque family seeks stolen urn containing veteran father’s ashes
An Albuquerque overnight stop turned into a search for a stolen urn holding veteran Charles Landrum’s ashes, a boot-shaped keepsake taken from a smashed car.
Tammy Blevins came back to Albuquerque with grief, frustration and one missing item: the ashes of her father, Charles Dewald Landrum. The family had stopped overnight at a Best Western off Interstate 25 near Paseo del Norte, and by morning someone had smashed the rear window of their vehicle and taken the urn, a memorial piece shaped like cowboy boots.
Landrum’s death made the loss feel even sharper. His obituary said he died Feb. 17 at age 95 and identified him as RMCM (SS) USN RET of Lemoore, California. Born in June 1930 in Logan, Oklahoma, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1948 and served as a radioman on the USS Astoria, submarines and other ships before later becoming a teacher.
Blevins had been traveling from California to Colorado to bury her father when the break-in happened. The reported theft likely took place around 2:30 a.m. Thursday, leaving the family in a waiting game that stretched into Tuesday without meaningful follow-up from police. For Blevins, the stolen urn was not just a piece of property. It was the container for her father’s remains and a keepsake tied directly to his identity and military service.
The case unfolded in a city where property crime has long shaped daily life. Albuquerque police said in December 2025 that auto thefts were down 42% year-to-date compared with 2024, and the department said the city had gone from averaging about 10,000 auto thefts a year in 2016 to fewer than 4,000 in 2025. A separate report from the New Mexico consortium that includes APD said more than 5,000 vehicles were reported stolen in Albuquerque in 2024.
Police data also carry a caveat: APD says its crime statistics are preliminary and subject to change. That matters in cases like Blevins’, where the paperwork may be changing even as the emotional damage has already been done. What began as an overnight stop near Paseo del Norte became a family search for something irreplaceable, and the absence left behind is heavier than the broken glass.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
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