Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Woman appeals for return of stolen urn containing husband’s ashes

Catherine Sylvester
By Catherine Sylvester
Multimedia Journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
19 May, 2024 09:39 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Sharon Mapp is appealing for the safe return of her husband Tony's ashes; the couple were together for 36 years before he passed.

Sharon Mapp is appealing for the safe return of her husband Tony's ashes; the couple were together for 36 years before he passed.

When Rotorua woman Sharon Mapp received a phone call last Friday from a neighbour saying her front door was wide open, she left work and arrived home to find police already there.

At first, she thought it was just her TV that was missing.

It wasn’t until she sat down on the couch with her neighbour that she realised her late husband Tony’s ashes were also gone.

“I was just devastated,” she said. “It’s just beyond me.”

The pair were together for 36 years; Tony died two and a half years ago.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A “rugby-mad, typical Kiwi bloke”, his ashes were kept in a canister bearing the All Blacks’ silver fern logo.

Sharon Mapp is devastated by the loss of the urn containing her husband Tony Preier's ashes.
Sharon Mapp is devastated by the loss of the urn containing her husband Tony Preier's ashes.

For quite some time after his death, Sharon would only watch the rugby with Tony’s ashes - a bottle of Steinlager propped up next to him, and a glass of wine for her.

“[Watching rugby] was special to us.”

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Sharon says they assume those who took the urn thought it was some special rugby memorabilia or that it contained a bottle of whisky.

The couple never had children but enjoyed time with their nieces and nephews, close family and “lots of friends”.

As it was just the two of them, Sharon says they were “a real unit”.

They lived for in California for 17 years, where Sharon worked as a neonatal nurse and Tony made sausages he sold at fairs.

During their time in the US, the couple “ran away to Las Vegas and got married”.

Tony’s parents built the house Sharon lives in, which the couple bought when his folks retired.

“We were just a regular couple, and he was a real neighbourhood guy.”

Sharon says she doesn’t want retribution or to know who may have the urn - she just wants it back.

“I don’t want to take it any further. I just want him home.”

She asks that whoever might have it return it to her porch, hand it in to the police, or leave it at the Springfield Gold Club where she works.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Sharon’s niece Joanne Mapp contacted the Rotorua Daily Post seeking help for her aunty and the safe return of her uncle’s ashes. She also posted on multiple Rotorua Facebook pages appealing for help.

“It was really heart-wrenching for her to find his ashes [were] gone.”

A woman who identified herself as a neighbour of Sharon’s also posted on Facebook, appealing for others to share the post on their networks: “If by some miracle we can get this returned, [Sharon] would be eternally grateful’”.

On Monday morning, her post had been shared nearly 70 times, with users expressing their support through comments such as, “That’s so awful”, “Hope it gets returned”, and “Absolutely heartbreaking ... praying his ashes are returned”.

A police spokesperson said in a statement they appreciated the theft had been distressing for the victim but they had been unable to locate the stolen items. With no further lines of inquiry, the case will be moved into the completion stage but reassessed if further information comes to light.

They encouraged anyone who had information that could lead to the return of the stolen items to contact police on 105 or online at 105.police.govt.nz, by clicking “Update report” and referencing file number 240518/4528.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post
|Updated

'Saddest day in NZ netball history': Silver Ferns great react to Taurua’s shock stand-down

Rotorua Daily Post
|Updated

Women urge promoter boycott after sex crimes case revealed

Rotorua Daily Post

Revealed: The new subjects your children could soon be learning at school


Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

'Saddest day in NZ netball history': Silver Ferns great react to Taurua’s shock stand-down
Rotorua Daily Post
|Updated

'Saddest day in NZ netball history': Silver Ferns great react to Taurua’s shock stand-down

NNZ board chair Matt Whineray refused to confirm why Taurua was stood down.

10 Sep 11:21 PM
Women urge promoter boycott after sex crimes case revealed
Rotorua Daily Post
|Updated

Women urge promoter boycott after sex crimes case revealed

10 Sep 09:18 PM
Revealed: The new subjects your children could soon be learning at school
Rotorua Daily Post

Revealed: The new subjects your children could soon be learning at school

10 Sep 09:00 PM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP