Woman Finds Urn Of Ashes On Beach, Starts Search For Deceased's Family

OYSTER BAY, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - A mysterious funeral urn found containing a bag of ashes washed up on a small beach in Massapequa, setting off a Good Samaritan's search for the origin of the human remains.

According to Newsday, Anita Bloomfield discovered the urn along Alhambra Road next to the cove off South Oyster Bay.

The urn was reportedly inscribed with a woman's date of birth and death. The name led Bloomfield to an empty house in Massapequa, but a neighbor gave her a lead on connecting with family members living in Mississippi.

"I couldn't just let this go," Bloomfield told Newsday. "I had to take care of her."

Bloomfield learned family members had asked for the woman's remains to be scattered off Jones Beach about a month ago. It's possible the friend tasked with the final request may have simply thrown the whole urn into the ocean, figuring it would sink.

The woman whose remains were in the urn died in 2013 at age 59.

The urn is currently in the seventh precinct of the Nassau County Police Department in Seaford pending a forensic investigation.