A New York man is accused of stealing the ashes of a Pennsylvania woman’s daughter and holding them for ransom for thousands of dollars that he said she owed him.
Upper Moreland Police responded to a home in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, for a report of a theft. A woman told officers that a former employee at her nail salon, identified as 30-year-old Nuo Chen of Flushing, New York, allegedly entered her home and stole an urn that contained the ashes of her deceased daughter, according to a criminal complaint.
The woman told investigators that Chen was recently fired from her Bensalem salon after he began acting “erratically” towards customers. Chen, however, continued to show up to the business and cause problems, according to the criminal complaint.
On June 12, Chen went to the salon to talk to the woman about money he claimed she owed him, officials said. An argument ensued and Chen allegedly threatened to “smash things” inside the business and pushed her, injuring the woman, according to the criminal complaint. The woman called Bensalem Police who arrived at the salon and ordered Chen to leave, officials said.
After leaving the salon, Chen went to the woman’s home in Willow Grove and was observed on surveillance video trying to enter home and later “quickly walking down the driveway holding a dark colored box.” The woman said the urn was valued at $2,000.
The woman also told police that Chen had stayed at her home twice over the past two months and she believed he had taken her house keys and a set of car keys during that time. The woman said she had allowed Chen to drive her vehicle, but when she asked him to return her house and car keys he refused, according to the complaint.
The woman told investigators Chen later contacted her, told her he had the ashes and demanded she pay him between $7,000 and $8,000 in order to get the urn back. Chen also threatened that if the woman told police, he would either dump the ashes or flee to New York with the urn and that she would never see her daughter again, according to the criminal complaint.
Chen repeatedly asked the the woman to meet him at the Bensalem nail salon so that they could work out the debt he believed she owed him, officials said. The woman eventually agreed and told police, who responded to the nail salon instead.
As officers were arriving, they received a report of an alarm at the business and found Chen leaving the nail salon with a red shopping bag containing the ashes of the woman’s daughter, according to the complaint.
Chen was taken into custody and admitted to police that he stole the urn, according to the criminal complaint. He was charged with burglary, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property and theft by extortion.
Chen is being held in Montgomery County Prison. Online court records don’t list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
