ATHENS, Mich. (WOOD) — It’s a surprising discovery after the owner of a funeral home in Athens recently died — more than 35 boxes of cremains were found in a storage unit.
A Battle Creek woman whose mother died more than two years ago thought she was given her mom’s cremains immediately after her mom was cremated. But she got a call from the medical examiner’s office saying they found a box of her mom’s cremains inside a storage unit last week.
Medical Examiner Dr. Joyce DeJong told 24 Hour News 8 Joy Spencer, also known as Joy Spoors, recently died. She and her husband Jim owned Spencer’s Funeral Home in Athens.
When the family opened up a storage unit, that’s when they found 37 boxes of cremains. DeJong says they are just starting the process of identifying the cremains and returning them to families. She doesn’t know yet why the remains were being stored.