Woman's heartfelt appeal after theft of car with locket of late partner’s hair inside

IN A heartfelt appeal, a local woman is desperately seeking information after a BMW car was stolen from outside her home, with a deeply sentimental item inside the vehicle. 

The vehicle, taken in the early hours of Thursday, July 18, contained a locket with a strand of her late partner's hair—a cherished memento holding immense personal significance. 

The woman had been regularly driving the blue BMW hybrid, owned by her partner, when it was taken from the driveway of her home in Irish Estates, Corbally at approximately 3:25am on July 18. 

She is hoping the public can help recover the invaluable keepsake, and other personal belongings which were in the vehicle.

She was awoken by gardaí at around 4am on that Thursday morning. She explained that she was informed about the missing car by the “very, very kind” gardaí.

Neighbours had alerted gardaí to the car being stolen, as their dogs began barking at the commotion outside.

She believes that the perpetrators had been travelling around on electric bikes, which are very quiet and difficult to hear.

As she was planning to travel to Kerry in the morning to visit her mother, she had a variety of personal items in the car, which she hopes will be discarded by whoever stole the vehicle.

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While the theft of the car has undoubtedly had a financial impact, the true loss for her is the old, dented, “irreplaceable” locket in the shape of a gold heart containing a lock of hair from her late partner.

Among the other personal items in the vehicle were a pendant with Ogham writing gifted to her by her sons, a twin baby carrier for her newborn grandsons, and a variety of clothing.

She is hoping that if anyone spots the items they will make contact with the gardaí, and is urging people to “be vigilant, not complacent”, when it comes to protecting their vehicles and valuables. 

She suggests that people write their phone numbers on any important possessions so that they can be easily returned to the rightful owner if found. She also urges people to take photos of meaningful items, to be used in the event of a need to highlight missing possessions.

She hopes that her misfortune will spread awareness of car theft to others, particularly in her local Corbally area. “So many people just have no idea that all of this is going on,” she emphasised.

A garda spokesperson confirmed that “investigations are ongoing”.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact Mayorstone Garda Station on 061 456 980, the garda confidential line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station.