Probable cause: Joplin man stole woman's mother's ashes, threatened to flush them

A Joplin man who allegedly stole an urn containing a woman's mother's ashes has been charged with first-degree harassment, a felony.

Sebastian Drake Burch (DOB 2002) pleaded not guilty during his arraignment today in Jasper County Circuit Court. His bond is set at $10,000 cash or surety.

From the probable cause statement:

Nevaeh Lovato and Aaron Lovato stated that Sebastian had taken her mother's ashes, which were in a blue urn costing approximately $40 from Amazon. Nevaeh told me that Sebastian began messaging her and sending photos of the urn with her mother's ashes.

In the messages, Nevaeah is seen asking several times for Sebastian to bring back the ashes and he refused unless Nevaeh showed up alone, got into his vehicle and left the state of Missouri.

Sebastian had called and messaged Nevaeh approximately 10-12 times while speaking with her.

In those messages, Sebastian had threatened to destroy and flush Nevaeh's mother's ashes.

I attempted to speak with Sebastian on the phone, but he would hang up. While on scene, Nevaeh was crying, having difficulty thinking and looked scared/frightened due to Sebastian threatening to destroy the ashes.

Nevaeh was able to get Sebastian to meet a church in Jasper County, Missouri. Sebastian arrived on scene and spoke with Nevaeh for a short time before trying to leave. Several deputies were in the area and he was stopped.

Sebastian was read Miranda Rights and told us the urn was located in the back seat under a blanket.

The case was investigated by the Jasper County Sheriff's Office.