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Mar 11, 2024

Horror as Woman Finds Urn Complete With Ashes at Goodwill for $3.99

One vintage fan was stumped this week when she stumbled on an unusual find in a local Goodwill—an urn with ashes inside. Josie Chase, 24, lives in Seattle and has been collecting and upcycling vintage

One vintage fan was stumped this week when she stumbled on an unusual find in a local Goodwill—an urn with ashes inside.

Josie Chase, 24, lives in Seattle and has been collecting and upcycling vintage items since 2018.

"I fell in love with vintage clothing and began researching and collecting unique pieces from thrift stores, vintage shops, and antique stores," Chase told Newsweek. "Items made 20+ years ago were typically made with high quality materials and made to last—I love finding unique pieces that you can't find in stores today, and being able to recreate time period specific outfits with my collection."

From vintage T-shirts, dresses and jeans to homeware items, including kitchenware and planters, Chase frequently trawls through local vintage and second-hand stores to find treasures she can give a new life.

On TikTok, she shares her discoveries and upcycled creations with other thrift lovers, but one of her videos has now captured huge attention.

With 5 million views, Chase shared the moment she found the urn in a local Goodwill store.

"I stumbled upon the urn in the new bins that had just rolled out that morning at Goodwill," Chase said. "It was out in the open with the other items being put out on the sales floor. When I grabbed it and felt that it was heavy, I knew there had to be something inside. Seeing the bag of ashes still inside shocked me, so I decided to share it with my TikTok audience of fellow thrifters and secondhand shoppers."

Evergreen Goodwill of Northwest Washington, that oversees operations of Goodwill locations in Seattle and the surrounding areas, told Newsweek: "Our generous material donors sometimes unintentionally donate sentimental items. When this is brought to our attention, we do what we can to return those items. We are looking into this particular situation and have reached out to the customer who purchased the urn."

Chase didn't inquire about the urn as many of the employees were busy, but she assumed that the contents of the new bins hadn't yet been inspected.

"There wasn't any other information inside the urn, just the name Toby Cava written on the bottom," said Chase. "The ashes inside the urn are still in their original bag from the crematorium. I'm unsure if they are from a human or animal, but many people in the comments speculate that it could be a cremated dog inside the urn."

After stumbling on the unusual thrift find, Chase purchased it for just $3.99.

"I bought the urn because I felt that maybe someone had misplaced it and TikTok could help find a relative, friend, or pet owner associated with the remains," she said. "I also felt the need to respect the departed and keep them from going to the landfill. If no one claims the ashes, I plan to scatter them somewhere nice in Washington State to return them to the earth."

In more than 7,000 comments on Chase's Goodwill discovery video, viewers reacted to the find.

"Probably a Cavalier named Toby judging by the labeling "Toby Cava," said one commenter. Another wrote: "Yikes so sad."

Lots of commenters said that Chase should scatter the ashes.

"Spread them plz," said one reply.

Some commenters even said that they had seen things like this before: "The way I've seen MULTIPLE urns containing pet ashes at Goodwill," said one. Another said: "I've always wondered what happens to people's pets ashes when someone dies… now I know."

Earlier in 2023 another TikTok video gained viral attention when a man and his friend realized they had stumbled on a working crematorium.

Update 4/4/23, 5:35 a.m. ET: The picture credit in this article has been updated.