Urn Found in the Back Seat of Buick

18 minutes ago
CHARLESTON, S.C. —
The back seat of a Buick wasn't intended to be Izetta Dickerson's final resting place, but that's where an urn containing her cremated remains was found.

"The owner said he doesn't know how it got there," said Demond McElveen, whose car repair shop bought the car after it was towed there. "She's in there, it's got the number on the bag."

Dickerson was from North Charleston and the widow of Franklin Dickerson. She died March 5, 2003, according to a newspaper obituary.

McElveen called Charleston County Coroner Rae Wooten, whose office is deciding which family member should be responsible for the remains.

"What's unusual in this case is that urns don't usually turn up at random," Wooten said.

The urn was left with Dickerson's son, who had been staying with the owner of the Buick. The coroner said the family thinks it was lost during a move.

Dickerson's daughter, Fatima Dickerson, told The (Charleston) Post and Courier that she wants a final resting place for her mother.

"I'm going to scatter the ashes," she said.

For the workers at Transmission Wholesalers, it's just another unusual find. Several years ago, Jerry Davis was trying to figure out why a minivan wouldn't start when he found a 10-foot python in the engine.

"A snake and a dead person," Davis said. "What's next?"

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.