Was Goodwill Donation Made in Urn-est?

With a decline in donations due to the slow economy, charitable organizations are grateful for all contributions. But workers at a Gresham, Oregon Goodwill store were stunned when they opened a box of items donated on October 16 to discover three small urns containing what appeared to be ashes and bone fragments.

Staffers reported the strange finding to police, and the urns were turned over to Bateman Carroll Funeral Home. Funeral home personnel identified the containers as “keepsake urns,” designed for families who wish to share the ashes of a deceased loved one, and confirmed that the contents were, indeed, cremains.

That was hardly the end of the mystery, though. While Goodwill spokesperson Dale Emanuel described the incident as “uncommon,” she recalled at least one other occasion in her 12 years with Goodwill that a cremation urn was donated. She suspects the donor didn’t know what the urns were or “didn’t know what to do” with them. With no way to identify the deceased or the rightful owner of the urns, the funeral home will retain the ashes in a mausoleum crypt.