Couple's ashes stolen from car after family friend travels to SoCal to inter them

Loved ones are pleading for help after the ashes of a couple were stolen from the back of a rental car at a Denny's near LAX.

David and Leslie Hunt, of Ohio, wished to be buried in Huntington Beach. Leslie was raised a California girl and wanted to be buried close to her family members. That journey was being handled by their friend, Bob Gallagher.

"We just became very close friends. Her husband passed away about 8 years ago and of course she passed away in December, so it was her wish that she was taken back to California with her parents... and we were honored to do that for her."

Gallagher arrived in Los Angeles with the ashes Friday morning. He picked up a rental car and stopped at a Denny's for breakfast.

When he returned to his car, his luggage and belongings were gone.

"So were the contents of the parcel we were carrying with David and Leslie," he said.

Devastated, Gallagher filed a police report. But he received a call later that day.

"Someone who had been walking some animals near a dog kennel located them near a dead end street in Rowland (Heights)."

It was David's ashes that were found at Shanderin Kennels. Gallagher brought them to Good Shepherd Cemetery in Huntington Beach, but Leslie's ashes are still missing.

"We were very honored... to be able to do this for them. And just to have it end like this...to let this be the end of the story - I have to be able to say that we're trying to do everything we can," he said.

Gallagher says the box is made of white wood with Leslie's name on it. Anybody who sees the box can contact him at (330) 777-2004.