Woman Shocked As She Finds Cremation Urn Complete With Ashes At Goodwill Listed For $3.99

Josi Chase, a 24-year-old resident of Seattle, has been a passionate vintage collector since 2018, and she likes to showcase her collections on TikTok. “I fell in love with vintage clothing and began researching and collecting unique pieces from thrift stores, vintage shops, and antique stores,” Chase told News Week. “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.”

Recently, Chase shared a TikTok video where she detailed her experience with an unusual discovery (an urn containing ashes) she made during a shopping trip at a local Goodwill thrift store. Upon noticing the content of the cremation vase, she was surprised and a bit alarmed. However, she maintained her calm and found the name “Toby Cava” on the sticker at the bottom, and this led her to deduce that it likely contained the ashes of a person with that name.

Josie Chase revealed that she bought the cremation urn because she wanted the ashes to be properly handled

@chasejosieRIP Toby Cava ? does anyone know this person? Will return to a relative or friend♬ Let It Be – 2021 Mix – The Beatles

The collector claimed that she attempted to speak with the store’s workers about the situation, but they were all preoccupied, and this led her to make the hard decision of adding add the cremation urn to her cart because she wanted the ashes to be handled respectfully and not just discarded in a landfill.

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Chase further revealed that she thought of various ways to dispose of the ashes, including holding a service and scattering the ashes or finding a suitable home for them before she finally purchased the urn for $3.99.

Josie Chase reveals that the cremation urn has found its way back to the rightful owners

Following the upload of the video on TikTok, lots of people took to the comment section to air their views about the situation, some suggested that the ashes might be for a pet. Another TikToker confirmed that when he did a search and found an obituary of a person named David Bothell, who had two dogs, Toby and Cava.

As soon as the video went viral, the senior director of marketing and communications of Goodwill reached out to Chase to request that the ash be returned in case the owner comes back looking for it, and she was compensated with a  $50 gift card while her initial expenses for purchasing the urn was also returned. The director also shared that she is of the opinion that the cremation contains the ashes of a pet and not a human.

Chase revealed in a follow-up TikTok video that the owner of the urn has finally been found. “Happy ending to the Toby story. His family reached out to Goodwill after seeing the video and news coverage and are so happy to be reunited with their family dog,” she wrote. “So thank you for getting the message out there and helping Toby be returned home.”