Woman finds ashes in antique

Urn was purchased at Jacksonville Beach antique store

JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – A Jacksonville Beach resident's find at a local antique store was not just the new centerpiece for her dining room table, but also the urn holding the ashes of a woman who died nearly eight years ago.

Sara Trevett didn't make the discovery until she took the piece home.

"So I turned it over to see what kind of wood it was," said Trevett. "I thought it was some type of nice mahogany wood or something, but that's when I found out it was an urn with human remains in it."

A cremation tag identified the ashes as the human remains of Jane Agnes Thibodeau, a Portland, Maine woman who died in 2004.

"I was extremely shocked. I was just in awe," said Trevett.

Trevett said she wanted to find out how the ashes could have ended up in her local antique store, which has since gone out of business.

"[Thibodeau] had two sisters and a brother in the area at that time, but when the records showed the telephone numbers, they're no longer in service," she said.

Trevett decided to conduct an obituary search, but even that didn't provide insight.

Channel 4 researched Thibodeau's death online and found that her funeral was arranged by Jones, Rich and Hutchins Funeral Home in 2004.

Management said they were "aware of the situation and working on a solution," but couldn't comment any further.  

Trevett said she will keep the ashes in her formal dining room and treat Thibodeau like family until she can be reunited with her own.

"I'm just really hoping that this will help reach a family member because I just want to return the urn to it's rightful owner." 

Trevett said her next step to solve the mystery will be contacting police in Portland to see if they can help locate Thibodeau's family.