As I pulled at what appeared to be a plastic box, I noticed writing on the lid. The label was water-damaged and hard to read. Half the lid was torn away. But I could clearly make out the remaining printed word, Crematory, and a hand-written date 7-30-2013... I had found a person or rather what was left of one. I could clearly see the ashes, in a plastic bag tucked inside the reddish brown container...
On Tuesday, I heard from Capt. Mark Gagan of the Richmond Police Department... RPD had identified the remains as a Jeannette Young, a woman born in 1956 who died in July of 2013... Another odd thing was, there were another set of ashes, which had been turned in Sept. 2. Code Enforcement found them in Richmonds Iron Triangle neighborhood next to a dumpster near Ninth Street and Lincoln Avenue...
Gagan also pointed me to Irvington Memorial in Fremont, the crematorium that dealt with Youngs ashes. Owner Robert Rose said they too had three boxes of remains returned to them in the last week. One set we have here was found in the middle of a street here in a subdivision at 11:30 at night, Rose said. The other two were found next to a dumpster at Niles Flea market in Fremont...
Rose said he usually only has one or two returns each year. People abandon them in storage facilities, rental cars, he said. Leaving your mother sitting in the back of the car? I just dont get it. I just dont get it... Another part of the law says that you need a permit to scatter someones ashes... Its $11, Rose told me. Your family member is worth 11 bucks. Thats two packs of smokes.
