A Kentucky woman is sending out what she calls an “urgent plea” after a box containing her mother’s cremated remains went missing after she mailed it to her sister in Florida.
On Sept. 9., Amy Redford of La Grange, Kentucky, sent the box via the U.S. Postal Service to what she thought was her sister’s address in Jacksonville, The Florida Times-Union reported. The box, which bore a bright red label saying, “CREMATED REMAINS,” was delivered the next day.
But her sister had moved, and Redford didn’t know.
Redford has talked to postal inspectors and the apartment manager to piece together a timeline.
The tenant took the box when the mail carrier knocked on the door, but seemed in a hurry because she was taking an online test, Redford told the newspaper. When the woman realized the box wasn’t for her, she put it outside so the mail carrier could take it. Now it’s missing.
Redford said she hopes someone will see her story and help.
“Getting the word out as much as possible is my best strategy, so that’s sort of what I’ve been hoping for,” Redford said. “Somebody might see something, somebody might know something.”
She’ has emailed trash companies in Jacksonville, who’ve pledged to keep an eye out for the package, the newspaper reported.
She has also talked to postal service employees in Kentucky. “They have done an amazing job here, they literally have been in contact with me every single day,” she said. “As a matter of fact, I now have the postmaster’s cellphone number.”
Redford’s mother, Catherine Elizabeth Mays, died at age 77.
“I just want to put her in peace,” Redford told the newspaper. “I don’t want my mother to end up in some landfill somewhere.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article