"It was the last picture he had in his hands," she said.

Her mother-in-law made the discovery Sunday (Nov. 27) and McNeely confirmed Monday the items were missing.

"I am heartbroken," she said, questioning how something like this could happen.

The woman who lives on the Mississauga side of the Oakville border, said it’s supposed to be a safe resting place for her late husband.

McNeely isn't the only person affected. Christine Hanley told the Beaver her mother's wedding ring and her father's signet ring went missing on Nov. 27, too.

Hanley said she was shocked to learn it wasn't the first time an item went missing and raised concerns about security to the funeral home.

Halton police confirm five thefts occurred since Nov. 3, but are not releasing details.

Gary Carmichael, vice president of Arbor Memorial, which owns Glen Oaks Memorial Funeral Homes & Cemetery, says it's believed the thefts took place over the Nov. 26 weekend, as well as a month ago.

Since the last incident, security measures at the Oakville funeral home's mausoleum have increased.

Access codes have been changed, more security cameras have been added and there is round-the-clock security, said Carmichael.

He added Glen Oaks is working with the families involved, police and security partners.

"The cemetery is a public place and it’s appalling somebody would do this in what we consider sacred grounds," he said. "This is a sacred place and our hearts go out to those who are impacted and we’re doing everything we can to ensure this doesn’t happen again and to ensure the people responsible are caught."

Although McNeely is pleased with the extra security measures, she questions why it took so long for them to be put in place.

She says she only received a phone call from the funeral home Friday (Dec. 2).

"I'm appreciative of the phone call, but I still have a number of questions," she said, noting she wants her husband's resting place safe and secure.

Through tears, McNeely said the items in the niche are among the few items she has left of the life she had with Corey. Over the last few years the family sold many belongings and property to pay for Corey's medication and some items that were saved were damaged in a flood after an ice storm.

"I don't have material things that I can hold on to, to say I remember this, or furniture that reminds me of a life that we had."

McNeely admits she’s questioned whether she should have abided by her husband's wishes in the first place when for two years, "it was safe and sound in my hands and around my neck," she said of the ring.

"It took me almost two years to gain courage to bury his urn and the belongings he asked for. And in less than a year, it's gone. Little by little, I feel like my life with him has become a dream. There's less and less evidence of our life together other than the memories that I have left."

Even more difficult to come to terms with is the picture her daughter drew of the three of them together with the family dog that has gone missing as well.

McNeely says she doubts she will ever get those items back, but hopes the increased security measures will help keep her husband's niche — a place meant to honour him and his memory — safer.

She and her daughter visit every week and she says she wants desperately to keep his memory alive while they move on together.