After accidentally buying urn at yard sale, Wellington woman seeks rightful owner

WELLINGTON — Jessica Roberts thought she had bought a heart-shaped paperweight for $1 at a yard sale. About five years later, the Wellington resident was shocked to discover the small object was actually an urn containing unidentified cremation ashes. Roberts made the connection Monday night after seeing an online ad for an urn that closely resembled the paperweight she had been keeping in her home all these years. "I kind of left it alone last night, and then all night I just kept thinking about it," she said. "So finally (Tuesday) morning, I woke up and I was like, I'm just going to open up the back of it just to see." When she unscrewed the back of it, Roberts found a bag of ashes with no distinguishing marks, engravings or other identifying features. The bag felt slightly dried out, so she put it back inside the urn to prevent it from rupturing. Because of the small quantity of ashes seen inside, she believes they could have been split between multiple urns. Roberts quickly felt the need to seek the ashes' rightful owner, so she turned to Facebook to see if anyone online would recognize the urn. She said Tuesday her post had received a steady stream of attention and shares, but no one had made a credible claim to it yet. Unfortunately for Roberts' efforts, the ornately decorated blue and white object has no customized markings that could provide clues, and she does not remember specifically which house she bought it at. "At the time I was living in Grafton, so it was somewhere between Grafton, LaGrange and North Ridgeville, possibly," she said. "... I wouldn't go searching back roads, so it was somewhere not too far off the main road that I would have passed, and I just can't for the life of me remember where on earth I bought it to even try to retrace my steps." Roberts cannot be sure if the urn is being actively sought by someone, somewhere, or even if the ashes could be from an animal rather than a human. But she said some urge had always kept her from getting rid of the object, and chances are, it means a lot to someone. That's why she is hoping it will end up back in the right hands this Christmas season and is not seeking any reward. "To me, being able to give it back to whoever it belongs to is all the reward I need," she said. And if no one comes forward claims it? Roberts said she may "adopt" the ashes out of respect and give the urn a proper home on her mantle. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.