Come on you guys, don’t lose your mothers’ cremains!
by Mortuary Transport Expert ~ April 21st, 2008. Filed under: Death In The News.NORTH, S.C. – The night of April 2 was a most unusual one for the North Police Department in a very eerie sort of way.
At 11:30 p.m., Police Chief Mark Fallaw removed a canister from the rafters of the picnic shelter on U.S. 321. Much to his surprise, the canister contained a 65-year-old Ohio woman — at least what was left of her.
Barbara Jean Stephan’s cremated remains were in the container, and the canister was labeled as such. Also on the label was the name of Cook & Son-Pallay Funeral Home of Columbus, Ohio. Stephan’s date of death was listed as Feb. 5, 2006.
How the woman’s remains ended up in North is a mystery. Despite a diligent search by Fallaw, none of Stephan’s relatives could be located in this area.
A telephone call to the Ohio mortuary confirmed that Stephan had indeed died and been cremated, and her remains were verified by a local mortuary professional who sifted through the ashes and located a metal identification tag.
But Fallaw says no one has a clue how Stephan’s’ remains came to be in the rafters of the picnic shelter in North or even when they were placed there.
Stephan’s remains will be mailed back to the Columbus, Ohio, mortuary for dispersal.
