The “journey of a lifetime” turns into a nightmare

A Winnipeg man is demanding answers after a suitcase containing his father’s ashes and valuable heirlooms went missing for about two weeks after an Air Canada flight bound for Europe.

Ben Benton and his wife Michelle Kirkbride were planning to fulfill one of his father Evan’s last wishes, who wanted his ashes to be taken to his native country of England.

<p>PROVIDED</p>
<p>Ben Benton holds a suitcase the couple had to buy in Europe after their luggage went missing.</p>
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<p>DELIVERED</p>
<p>Ben Benton holds a suitcase the couple had to buy in Europe after their luggage went missing.</p>
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<p>But that will not happen – at least on this trip – because the suitcase was sent back to Winnipeg after it was discovered at an airport near Paris. </p>
<p>“It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime for my wife and I, and a tribute to my father, but it turned into a nightmare,” Benton said <em>free press</em> from a hotel in Athens, Greece on Tuesday. “We’re emotionally drained.” </p>
<p>Benton and Kirkbride were planning a nearly five-week European tour for her 50th birthday but had to postpone it due to his father’s ill health last fall and the Omicron-fueled COVID-19 outbreak. </p>
<p>After his 88-year-old father died of cancer in October, they decided to make a stop in the English county of Norfolk to scatter the ashes alongside family members who live in England. </p>
<p>Benton decided to place the ashes, which are kept in a stainless steel urn, in his checked suitcase rather than a carry-on when he left Winnipeg on June 8. </p>
<p>Both the couple’s flight from Winnipeg and a connection in Montreal were delayed. </p>
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<p>PROVIDED</p>
<p>Evan Benton died in October aged 88 after battling cancer.</p>
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<p>DELIVERED</p>
<p>Evan Benton died in October at the age of 88 from complications from cancer.</p>
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<p>After the couple landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris, Benton’s heart sank when the couple’s suitcases failed to appear on a conveyor belt. </p>
<p>“We waited at the baggage carousel and the line (of passengers) shrank and shrank, and we still stood there until the bags stopped coming,” Benton said. </p>
<p>After filing a lost luggage claim at the airport, they began their tour of France expecting to be reunited with their suitcases within days. </p>
<p>When the bags didn’t show up, they called Air Canada and airports for an explanation. </p>
<p>“Here begins the wall or void of information. No one seemed to be communicating with anyone,” Benton said, growing increasingly concerned and frustrated. </p>
<p>“I thought, ‘Where are my father’s remains? Where are the heirlooms?’” he said. “These are irreplaceable items.” </p>
<p>Benton and Kirkbride continued the journey, which included stops in Spain, Albania and Greece, but were forced to purchase a new suitcase, clothes, toiletries and other items to replace those contained in the missing suitcases. </p>
<p>They said Air Canada promised to reimburse them for those costs, which totaled about $2,000. </p>
<p>They estimate they have earned hundreds of dollars in cell phone charges for calls made from their Canadian cell phones. </p>
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