A southern Alberta family is devastated after someone stole a purse containing the ashes of their little boy from a northeast pub on Saturday night.

Laura and Nathan Hudson brought their family to Calgary to attend an event at the Alberta Children’s Hospital and checked into a northeast hotel on the weekend.

The couple went to Henry’s Pub at the Sheraton Hotel on 32 Avenue N.E. on Saturday night for a few hours and were playing the VLTs when they noticed Laura’s purse was missing.

“We were sitting at the bar and the VLTs are three feet away, if that, so my husband went to spend 20 bucks in the VLTS and I sat there because our phones and purse were there right? Then he was done and we were switching places and so he’s like just play the game that I was playing and I’m like I don’t know how to play so that’s where he paused and the girls came in and he was explaining how to play it before he went to sit down and in that moment, they came in, took my purse and left,” said Laura.

Laura says there were very few people in the pub so she didn’t think much about stepping away from her belongings for a few seconds.

“Switching seats at the VLTs to me wasn’t a big deal because there was nobody in there and I’m like we’re just switching anyways and the bartender’s there, like what are the chances of my purse leaving in two seconds?” she said.

A little, velvet bag containing the ashes of the Hudson’s son Hunter was in the purse and the couple is devastated by the loss.

“Honestly at first I wasn’t too worried and then she said Hunter’s ashes were in there and I was right upset right away,” said Nathan. “It seems really weird the way it happened. You watch the surveillance video, the car pulls in right the second we leave and then they come in and go out. It was almost like it was planned but we knew nothing about it.”

“That’s the last physical thing that we had of him and it’s just, devastated, like, I’m already devastated I lost my baby you know,” said Laura.

“It’s pretty upsetting,” said the Hudson’s oldest son, Terrance. “For her, it’s losing him all over, it’s really devastating.”

The couple called police and surveillance footage from the pub shows a pair of women entering and then leaving a few minutes later in a silver, four-door car possibly a 2008 or newer Mitsubishi Lancer.

Police say two women used credit cards from the stolen purse at a 7-Eleven on Ogden Road S.E. and investigators have released photos hoping someone might know them.

The Hudson’s say they just want Hunter’s ashes back.

“I honestly just would like my son’s ashes back. If they still have him, if they could just even put him in a mailbox because it’s so public now that anybody that would find it would know drop it off somewhere,” she said. “I just pray that they didn’t throw him out or something, that would be horrible.”

Police are asking anyone with information about the incident or the identity of the women to call the non-emergency line at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers using any of the following methods:

TALK: 1-800-222-8477
TYPE: www.calgarycrimestoppers.org
TEXT: tttTIPS to 274637