Murdered girl's ashes stolen from house

The mother of a baby girl murdered nearly 40 years ago has pleaded for a thief to
return her daughter's ashes.
An urn containing Deidre Kennedy's ashes was stolen from her family's Laidley home,
west of Brisbane.
Deidre was murdered in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, 37 years ago after being taken
from her cot.
The 16-month-old's body was found on top of a toilet block in Ipswich's Limestone
Park. She had been beaten, sexually assaulted, dressed in women's underwear and had
bite marks on her thigh.
Police say Deidre's ashes were most likely taken by mistake during a break-and-enter
of the family home between 1.30pm and 8.15pm on Sunday.
"It was an urn that was in a wooden case ... so I suspect that it looked like
something that may be of value and was taken along with other items," Toowoomba
District Inspector Glen Doyle told reporters on Monday.
Deidre's mother Faye Kennedy told Network Ten the theft had brought back hurtful
memories.
"I just can't believe it - it was just like history repeating," she said.
"I just want what's mine. I just want her home."
Ms Kennedy pleaded for the thief not to discard the ashes.
"Drop it off somewhere, but please don't discard it - they're my family's," she said.
Ms Kennedy led a fierce campaign against the "double jeopardy" rule until the
Queensland government in 2007 passed a private members bill which enabled an
acquitted person to be retried if fresh and compelling new evidence emerges in a
murder case.
The man accused of the toddler's murder, Raymond John Carroll, was twice found
guilty by a jury and twice acquitted on appeal.
When new evidence arose in 1990 linking Carroll to the crime, he could not be
charged again.
Carroll, who has maintained his innocence, had a perjury conviction in 2000
overturned on appeal partly because of double-jeopardy provisions.
Ms Kennedy has widely criticised the bill, saying it did not go far enough because
it was not retrospective.
Police investigating the theft of the urn are following a lead given by a member of
the public and are seeking a Caucasian man of skinny build, about 175cm to 180cm
tall with cropped black hair and wearing long pants and a white T-shirt as a person
of interest.