Colleen Ransom was barely able to hold back the tears Tuesday as she discussed losing her daughter for a second time.

Emma Ransom, 19, was killed along with two other women when the car they were driving in 2009 near Nanton, Alta., lost control and crossed the median, slamming into an oncoming car.

Since then Ransom has kept Emma's ashes in a green velvet pouch in her truck in southeast Calgary – at least until the early morning of Aug. 2.

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During the night someone entered the unlocked vehicle, stole the pouch and then emptied the ashes onto the street.

"The first thing I looked for were my daughter's ashes and they were gone," she said.

"The policeman found the little pouch in the middle of the road and it was empty so we went down to the corner and found the pile of ashes there. It had been raining, they were wet and we couldn't scoop them.

"We got a few anyways."

Calgary police were looking for three teenaged girls who were spotted in the neighbourhood. Other cars were also entered in the car prowling spree.

"It's hard for me to even imagine suffering the loss of a daughter and of course to have this happen again," said acting Staff Sgt. Lee Stanton.

"And now unfortunately our victim has been victimized once again so we're looking for the public's help to find those responsible for that."

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Ransom, who was tightly clasping a large picture of her smiling daughter, said she always kept her close by.

Also taken was a green jacket that belonged to Emma.

"Anybody who has lost someone knows how precious it can be. They were the only thing I have left of my daughter and I like her to come with me wherever I go," she said.

"I thought who would do that? Who would take the ashes and dump them? And then I realized they probably didn't know they were my daughter's ashes."

The few remaining ashes are now safely in her home.

Ransom said in future she plans to take her daughter's ashes with her but them in her purse.

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Ransom said the pain of the loss of her daughter hasn't eased over the past four years.

"It never goes away. She's always there. I wake up ... I think about her. I think about her constantly."