A Cape Coral couple found cremated remains in an Extra Space Storage unit in Venice, Florida, which they recently acquired through an auction. They reached out to WINK News, hoping to reunite the ashes with the deceased’s family.
Inside an ornate wooden box decorated with flowers were the cremated remains of Deborah Thornton McConahy Skidgel, her memorial booklet, and a wedding band. The name of the funeral home listed with the remains is Cremation Society of Virginia – Chantilly.
“We want to do the right thing,” said Carlos Feliciano, a Cape Coral resident. “Normally, you know, people throw them away, and it’s not right. It’s someone’s ashes… It’s spiritual. I’m sure it means something to the family.”
Feliciano and his wife are determined to track down Skidgel’s family and hand over several heirlooms they discovered in the storage unit, which contained countless family photos, military mementos, and even a yearbook.
The storage unit also contained legal documents belonging to a man named Ryan Gerald McConahy, as well as a memorial and funeral booklet for a woman named Anna L. Newbegin. Newbegin was born in Milford, Michigan, and appears to have died in Lake City, Florida.
“Someone is looking for this,” said Feliciano. “Someone needs this back for some type of closure or peace. It’s just sad that, you know, we don’t know who it belongs to, and we tried getting a phone number so we can call from the storage facility, but that’s to no avail. We can’t reach this person.”
The couple plans to keep these items until they can locate a family member. They hope sharing their story will help them achieve that.