Homicide Victim's Family Searches For Stolen Memorial Items

A mom and dad whose daughter was murdered in 2009 want to know who stole their daughter's memorial from their front porch.

The parents of Rebecca Castaldi recently contacted the Tulsa County DA who recommended they reach out News On 6.

Many people have offered to replace items in the memorial, but the parents said it's not the same.

They said Rebecca loved butterflies, flowers, gardening, being outdoors, and was even working on a degree in botany. They said the memorial they had for her, the one thieves took, was perfect.

It’s been almost 14 years since Rebecca Castaldi’s fiancee killed her, put her in a barrel, and dumped the barrel near Nowata.

"I just miss her not being here. That’s it," said Mike Castaldi, Rebecca's dad.

Her parents will never forget the day their 24-year-old daughter was found.

"On the day that her body was found, we opened up our front door and at that time there was just an abundance of butterflies on our front porch and we took that as a sign from our daughter. She had drawn butterflies. Talked about butterflies. I have two pieces of stained glass butterflies that she made herself. And that was a sign to us like, 'Mom dad, I'm okay. I'm sending you my butterfly kisses,'" said Gayla Castaldi, Rebecca's mom.

Family gave the Castaldi’s a butterfly bench on the first Mother's Day without her.

It was on their front porch, right next to a butterfly side table, antique flower vase, and a wreath; until last March when thieves took all of it.

"That bench with the big, butterfly wings on the back was just like a big embrace from her," said Gayla. "We probably cried for a month after we got it because it just held such memories for us, and one more way of hanging onto her even though she's not here physically, we can still have memories of her being here and can feel her touch and her love."

Still reeling from the loss of their daughter, police interviews, and court dates, they didn’t file a police report.

"She was already taken from us and now this last thing that we had, it was just like another stab in our heart. It just left a void and I just couldn't talk about it," said Gayla.

Recent reports about the recovery of countless stolen items prompted them to try to find the missing memorial.

"Have a heart and give it back to us so we can fill that hole in our heart," said Gayla. "I had a lot of thoughts going through my head when we came home and discovered it gone. You know, where's the moral compass on people? Don't they understand what that meant to me? To us? To our family that gifted that to us in memory of our daughter? And they don't think. They just take."

The company where the bench was made said they don’t make it in lime green anymore, which was one of Rebecca's favorite colors.

They can't bring Rebecca back, but said someone can bring the bench back.

"Butterflies lead a very short life but it's very significant and that's what we think of with our Rebecca,” said Gayla.

Tulsa Police said while serving search warrants, if they believe there's an obvious stolen item or one with a serial number, they would check the databases to see if it was stolen.

If an item is stolen, they try to contact the owner and return it that night.

Officers said if an owner cannot be found, the item would be turned into the TPD property division.

The City of Tulsa holds surplus auctions each year to sell unused items.

If the police have unclaimed or confiscated property, it is usually sold at these auctions.