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Last updated on Wednesday, July 4, 2012
(BEDFORD) - The Lawrence County Police Department is looking for the owner of an urn of ashes that was found near the White River Boat Ramp, just off of Ind. 37 back in April.
And the Bedford Police Department is looking for the owner of an urn of ashes discovered last weekend near Leatherwood Creek in the Slaughterhouse Bridge area.
Bedford Chief Dennis Parsley says the ceramic urn was broken and without a lid, but still contained some remains. The urn has no identification.
Sherrill says in this case it's possible that someone chose to dispose of their loved one there. But he adds spreading remains in waterways or other places is legal, but they should spread the ashes and dispose of the urn preventing anyone from finding the remains and questioning why they are there.
Lawrence County Sheriff Sam Craig says The large brass urn at the White River was found on April 27 on the shore of the river at the boat ramp near Ind. 37. The sealed urn, which had no identifying marks, had been in the river. It is unknown for how long or where the urn was put in the water.
Craig said detectives contacted Lawrence County Coroner John Sherrill to assist with the investigation.
Lawrence County Coroner John Sherrill, using a vice, removed the lid from the urn and examined the cremains and found a tag with an identification number that indicated the person had been cremated at Kentuckiana Cremation Center in Henryville.
The previous owner of that facility, Richard Pyke, was sentenced to prison on charges related to theft, fraud and violating the state's cremation laws. Sherrill says unfortunately the facility didn't keep good records so there is no way of knowing whose cremains they are.
A couple of possibilities, he added, are it was displaced into the river when a tornado hit Henryville in March or maybe Pike had purposefully disposed of some cremains.
And a second question is what are the departments going to do with the remains.
Anybody with information about whose cremains these are should contact county police at 275-3316 or city police at 275-3311.
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