Mother urges thieves to return stolen handbag containing lock of hair from daughter, who died aged two

‘Please do the right thing and hand it in to your nearest police station,’ says 35-year-old woman

Ellie Louise Baldwin (Greater Manchester Police)

A mother has pleaded with thieves to return a stolen handbag because it contains a “precious” lock of hair – all she has left of her daughter who died six years ago.

Kirsty Baldwin, 35, said her bag had been grabbed from her car seat while she sat at a motorway service station near Manchester.

Ms Baldwin’s daughter Ellie Louise died suddenly of bronchial pneumonia at the age of two in 2013, and she had kept a lock of the girl’s blonde hair inside the handbag.

“Our daughter died unexpectedly of bronchial pneumonia and the lock of hair is all we had left of her apart from the clothes she had the night she died,” Ms Baldwin said.

“Please, if anyone finds the lock shown in the picture, please do the right thing and hand it in to your nearest police station. Thank you.”

Ms Baldwin was sitting in her car at Birch Services on the eastbound M62 in Greater Manchester at 10.30pm on Wednesday when thieves conspired to steal the bag.

A white man with “unkempt” hair opened her car door and took her handbag before jumping into a car driven by a “haggard looking” white woman with dark hair.

PC Cherie Castle, of Greater Manchester Police’s Rochdale District, said: “Robbery in any circumstance is particularly distressing but Kirsty and her family have been left devastated.

Photo of lock of hair shared by Baldwin family (Greater Manchester Police) (Greater Manchester Police / family handout)

“The hair is such a precious item that cannot ever be replaced and she’s desperate it’s returned to her. We’re hoping the offenders or whoever has any information about this robbery hear this story and return the hair as soon as possible.”

Along with the lock of hair, the designer handbag contained an iPad, a large amount of cash in euros and a purse containing a memorial card.

Part of the number plate of the car, a small, dark grey or black vehicle in poor condition, is either EE55, EE54 or EE52.

Anyone who has any information about the robbery should call police on 0161 856 8457 quoting incident number 2519 of 20 March 2019. Details can also be passed on anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.