DENVER (KDVR) — A Navy veteran is searching for his daughter’s ashes, which were packed in his SUV that was stolen.

John Ratcliff told FOX31 he was preparing to move from Colorado to Florida and had packed many of his belongings in his 2004 Chevy Trailblazer.

“It had all my old uniforms, my mementos from the Navy, all my pictures,” he said.

He said the most painful thing is losing his daughter’s ashes. He said she passed away in 2020.

“Have a heart, just be a human, why would anybody see those ashes and not give them back?” he said.

The SUV was stolen from a parking lot at a hotel near E. 40th Avenue and Chambers Road on Jan. 27. Surveillance video showed a yellow car entering the lot, then a man leaving that car and walking around the SUV. He gets inside the SUV, starts it and drives away, followed by the yellow car.

Ratcliff said the ignition switch was broken and anyone could have used a makeshift key to start it.

“They have to be the coldest people in this world you know to do something like that,” he said.

Ratcliff told the Problem Solvers his mementos are important, but he and his family just want the only thing that’s left of the memory of his daughter.

“I weep at night because we’ve lost our daughter that was one pain, the second pain of losing her ashes is almost too much, so please return it. We need it,” he said.

The stolen SUV is a blue 2004 Chevy Trailblazer with a broken rear hitch loop. Anyone with information should contact police.