A family in Arizona was left shaken after ordering a keepsake urn from Amazon for their grandmother's ashes, only to find it already contained someone else's remains.
The Discovery
When Dorothy Kuspis passed away at the age of 98, her granddaughter Ashleigh Wegner and the family decided to keep her ashes in a heart-shaped urn purchased from Amazon via a third-party seller. The item arrived promptly but showed signs of prior use. "It came within a couple days," Ashleigh told AZ Family, noting it was dusty. Upon unscrewing the back, she was shocked to find ashes already inside. "I unscrewed the back and that's when I noticed it still had remains inside of it," she said. "And that was like... 'Who are you and what are you?'"
Response from Amazon
Ashleigh immediately contacted Amazon and the third-party seller. She insisted on more than a refund, fearing the urn might be resold. Amazon issued a full refund and sent a replacement urn. The third-party seller has not responded. "I didn't want it to end up on the warehouse shelf again and have somebody else make a purchase and have it accidentally get shipped to someone else in a moment like this," she explained.
Previous Encounter with Ashes
This is not Ashleigh's first unusual encounter with ashes. Years ago, she and her husband found a box of ashes in an alleyway. Police tracked down the owners, who declined to reclaim them. The couple scattered those ashes in the Arizona mountains. Ashleigh plans to do the same with the mystery ashes from the urn, ensuring they won't be passed on to another unsuspecting buyer.
Family's Grief
Despite the ordeal, Ashleigh's grandmother's remains are now safely in the new urn. "She lived a good life," Ashleigh said. "So it wasn't a surprise, but it was kind of a - with anything, any loss - kind of a shock when it happened." Amazon has yet to comment on the incident.
