Army Vet from Colorado has paperwork needed to cremate him stolen from backpack

LAKEWOOD, Colo. -- The daughter of an Army veteran from Colorado is asking whoever stole a purple Oakley backpack with important paperwork needed to cremate her father to return it, no questions asked.

"I was just so wiped out so I just left it in the back and locked it," said his daughter, Tara Knutson.

Knutson said she woke up to find the lock drilled through and the purple backpack stolen from her father's Chevy Blazer overnight Sunday in Lakewood.

"[It held a] copy of his honorable discharge from the army so that I could give him military honors," she said.  

Also inside the purple backpack were her father's last words, power of attorney paperwork, life insurance documents, iPhone, wallet, and the last fly rods he made.  

"Those are things I don't think I can remember everything," Knutson said. "Those were the last messages that my dad had said 'write this down,' make sure to say this, go to the big hole in Montana but before you do take this road and see my friend."

Her father, Jim Sawyer, 80, passed away on Saturday. He was an Army veteran and avid fly fisher who also helped teach fellow vets.

The backpack also contained his legal documents for cremation.

"The thought of my dad sitting at the mortuary and not being able to be cremated because all of those papers are gone, that's the worst imaginable thing," Knutson said.

Knutson called Lakewood police, and said she was told to file a report online, which she did.

Everything else that was stolen she said is just stuff, and can be replaced.  She just wants the paperwork back.

"Those papers the only thing keeping my family from cremating my dad," Knutson said. "Just drop it off, I don't care about anything else."

Anyone who has information about the stolen backpack should call Lakewood Police.