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People in tears after message in a bottle washes on beach sharing 'utterly heartbreaking' message
People in tears after message in a bottle washes on beach sharing 'utterly heartbreaking' message

Daily Mail​

time4 days ago

  • Entertainment
  • Daily Mail​

People in tears after message in a bottle washes on beach sharing 'utterly heartbreaking' message

People have been sharing sweet messages after seeing a bottle washing up on a beach. According to BBC Manchester, the bottle of ashes was sent out to sea by Cara Melia, 24, from Oldham. Cara revealed that her mother, 51-year-old Wendy Chadwick, had never been able to realise her dream of travelling the world during her lifetime, because of her responsibilities as a single parent of five. So in a poignant move following Wendy's death from an undiagnosed heart condition, Cara put her mother's ashes in a bottle. She accompanied the cremains with a sweet note, which read: 'This is my mum. Throw her back in - she's travelling the world. Thanks Cara, Oldham.' Cara then put the bottle in the sea at Skegness, saying she anted to see where Wendy 'ends up'. Just 12 hours later, someone found the bottle on the same beach. They shared the story on Facebook, where their post went viral. The bottle has since been returned to the sea, with Cara telling BBC Radio Manchester she hopes it will travel further this time. 'Life happened and my mum never got a chance to travel,' Cara said. 'Nobody was meant to find her for a bit - she was meant to be in a completely different country. 'I'd love her to end up on a beach in Barbados or Spain, which would definitely take a while.' Describing her mother, Cara said she was 'very quirky' and that she loved the beach and sun. She added that she had been surprised about how viral the Facebook post as gone, saying she had not expected the story to touch so many people. In a post shared about the story on the BBC's Instagram page, people shared some sweet messages. One Instagram user described the bottle of ashes and accompanying messages as 'heartbreakingly beautiful' One wrote: 'That's so heartbreakingly beautiful.' Another added: 'Absolutely beautiful. And absolutely heartbreaking. 'I hope people respect this. 'Enjoy your travels Wendy Chadwick - have the fun and adventures you clearly deserve.' In a similar vein, a third added: 'Love this!! I really hope she gets to visit some far and distant shores!!' 'Maybe I'll have my ashes travel like this! I love the water,' wrote another. A further Instagram user simply wrote: 'So beautiful.' Sharing their own similar experience, one respondent added: 'That's lovely. My sister and I took some of Mum's ashes to some of the most beautiful places in the world bc she didn't get to travel either.' Further posters shared well wishes. One said: 'May she encounter kind souls to continue her journey.'

More than 500 boxes of ashes from Chicago Heights crematory never made it to families
More than 500 boxes of ashes from Chicago Heights crematory never made it to families

CBS News

time4 days ago

  • General
  • CBS News

More than 500 boxes of ashes from Chicago Heights crematory never made it to families

Hundreds of bodies cremated at the Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, Illinois, never made it to their loved ones. The crematory was shut down after the CBS News Chicago Investigators exposed how bodies were being mishandled there. Now, there is an effort to find a final resting place for those whose bodies were cremated. When the State of Illinois shut down the crematory, they found more than 500 boxes lying in filth behind closet doors — each belonging to some family somewhere because they were filled with ashes of their deceased loved ones. Some of those ashes have yet to be identified, but the ones that have been identified are now ready to be picked up at the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Ponni Arunkumar has been tasked with identifying boxes filled with bags of ashes, along with bodies which were found at Heights Crematory. The remains were confiscated and sent to the morgue after the state shut the operation down in March for mishandling bodies. Arunkumar said she had never seen anything like it before. CBS News Chicago has been investigating Heights Crematory since February, after obtaining photos of bodies mishandled and left stacked in dirty trailers in ways that violated state law. The photos showed bodies in sheets, and some of them contained bugs. "The mission of our office is to treat people with dignity and respect, and it's disheartening to see the condition of the cremains and the bodies," said Arunkumar. Dr. Arunkumar said her staff found some of the remains were decades old, but never got to their loved ones. Arunkumar also said some of the boxes containing the remains were very dirty. She got emotional talking about the condition of the boxes. "They were covered with mold and bugs, and we actually used specialty services to come in and kind of disinfect the boxes," Arunkumar said. Tabitha Mathis' mother, Patsy Hughes, died 15 months ago. Her ashes were among the boxes stored at the Medical Examiner's office. "It's horrifying to see her like this," said Mathis. "I have never cried so hard in my life." Mathis said Heights' owners ghosted her after she kept calling for her mom's remains, and then when she saw our CBS News Chicago investigation, a grim reality sank in. "And there's all these other people in there in a closet waiting to be claimed?" Mathis said. "It's disgusting. It's sad. I don't know how a human being could treat another human being like this." There are six boxes the county has not been able to identify. There were also 10 bodies that have now been identified. Investigators said Heights Crematory had names misspelled, and some lacked the required paperwork. A hearing is set for June 24 to determine if the license for Heights Crematory will be permanently revoked.

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