VIDEO: Unclaimed ashes get final resting place in Puget Sound

In Pierce County, when people die and are not claimed by their families, their ashes may be scattered at sea. 

Last Wednesday, the unclaimed cremated remains of 40 people were scattered into the Puget Sound.

Representatives from the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office, as well as chaplains from local churches, gathered aboard a Pierce County Sheriff’s patrol boat for the annual scattering ceremony.

The ashes were scattered in Carr Inlet, between Fox and McNeil Island.

“There is so much we don’t know about them,” said Chaplain Daniel Miranda. “It may be there were some things that are not easy to mention about them."

“But at this moment, none of that matters, because we’re not here to change the story or to fix anything, we’re not even here to answer any questions,” Miranda said. “We’re simply here to acknowledge the beauty of life, the sacredness of life and the importance of each breath.”

Prior to the annual ceremony, the ashes were stored on shelves at the Medical Examiner’s Office until they were claimed, if they ever were.

“It is pretty amazing how many people go unclaimed,” said Amber Larkins, operations manager at the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office. “It is sad when they have family, and their family doesn’t care. It is what it is. It happens way more than you would ever think it would."

“We’re putting people at rest who would have otherwise sat on a shelf for who knows how long."

Sometimes, Larkins said, families cannot afford to take the body.

In other cases, the Medical Examiner’s Office is unable to locate family members. The ashes are stored for at least one year while staff works to locate families.

“We do learn the cause and manner of death on most of them, and we do look for their families,” said Larkins.

The names of the deceased, along with the date of death and the little information available, were read aloud during the ceremony. Staff members from the Medical Examiner’s Office alternated emptying the plastic bags containing ashes into the water.

After the ceremony, the patrol boat headed around the tip of Fox Island and back to shore, with Mount Rainier in plain sight.

“The goal of the ceremony is to take possession of people who remain unloved and unclaimed, or even unidentified, and scatter them at sea so they can be released,” said Larkins. “Rest in peace.”

The following is a list of those whose ashes were scattered into the Puget Sound, on Wednesday, August 29, 2018. For some, family was notified. In those instances, it is noted that he or she remains unclaimed by family. For others, no family was located.

Melvin R. Augg died at age 50 on 12/30/16 of natural causes while homeless in Tacoma. He remains unclaimed by his family.

William Anthony Baker died at age 54 on 5/5/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. He remains unclaimed by his family.

Carol Mae Canter died at age 62 on 1/9/17 of natural causes at home in Puyallup. No family was found for her.

Boddy Gene Cauvel died at age 58 on 1/20/17 of natural causes at home in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

Dong Hu Chung died at age 84 on 1/7/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Lakewood. No family was found for him.

Gerald Robert Coates died at age 58 on 11/17/16 of natural causes at home in Graham. No family was found for him.

Samuel C. Dreadin died at age 52 on 3/22/17 of suicide by jumping from a bridge in Tacoma. No family was found for him. 

Donald G. Duncan died at age 71 on 9/9/16 of natural causes at home in Lakewood. He remains unclaimed by his family.

Dale V. Edmunds died at age 69 on 6/29/17 of natural causes while living in a hotel in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

Vicki Lynn Emery died at age 59 on 7/1/17 of natural causes while homeless in Tacoma. No family was found for her.

Charles Gary Felts died at age 75 on 7/22/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

Adriana Carmen Forbes died at age 77 on 3/30/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Lakewood. No family was found for her.

Barbara Ann Gibson died at age 62 on 2/3/17 of natural causes while on hospice in University Place. Her children were not found.

Joseph John Hadel died at age 74 on 1/15/17 of natural causes at home in Tacoma. He remains unclaimed by his family.

John Charles Hager died at age 58 on 3/10/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. He remains unclaimed by his family.

Gayle Hardman died at age 65 on 7/11/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Puyallup. She remains unclaimed by her family.

Norman Walter Hartnell died at age 63 on 11/17/16 of natural causes while in a mental health facility in Tacoma. He remains unclaimed by his family.

Larry A. Heathcock died at age 60 on 5/17/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Puyallup. He remains unclaimed by his family.

Edward Charles Henderson died at age 67 on 7/11/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Puyallup. No family was found for him.

Matthew J. Hoey died at age 74 on 8/3/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

Jayceon Jones died while stillborn on 12/27/16 at a hospital in Tacoma. He remains unclaimed by his family.

Lillie Kaufman died at age 74 on 8/22/15 of natural causes while on hospice in University Place. She remains unclaimed by her family.

Christine L. Larson died at age 61 on 5/30/17 of natural causes while at home in University Place. She remains unclaimed by her family.

Patrick A. Lee died at age 60 on 8/27/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

Michael R. Magee died at age 68 on 12/15/16 of natural causes while hospitalized in Lakewood. No family was found for him.

Jean McDonald died at age 55 on 8/9/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Gig Harbor. She remains unclaimed by her family.

Donald Eugene Miller died at age 63 on 8/8/17 of natural causes at home in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

The cremated remains of Elwyn O. Mitchell, unknown age, unknown date of death, were found with two photographs and Bible under a tree in a cemetery in Tacoma. No family was found.

Steven Leo Owens died at age 62 on 11/28/16 of natural causes while in a nursing facility in Tacoma. His family was not found.

Baby Price was stillborn on 4/8/17 at a hospital in Tacoma. She remains unclaimed by her family.

Leah Jean Rardin died at age 47 on 10/13/16 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. She remains unclaimed by her family.

Charles Wesley Reynolds died at age 60 on 11/24/16 of natural causes in his car in a hotel parking lot in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

Chan Sap died at age 68 on 2/3/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

Dennice Secrist died at age 65 on 7/7/17 of natural causes while hospitalized in Tacoma. No family was found for her.

Michael D. Sorenson died at age 52 on 12/28/16 of natural causes at home in Lakewood. He remains unclaimed by his family.

Randy Jay Steele died at age 40 on 3/3/17 at a hospital in Lakewood after an accidental overdose in Spanaway. He remains unclaimed by his family.

William Henry Tyler died at age 66 on 7/10/17 of an accidental overdose near railroad tracks in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

Male unidentified died at an unknown age on approximately 2/1/17. He was found in the Puyallup River in Tacoma.

Eugene Lyle Wright died at age 65 on 7/25/17 of natural causes in a skilled nursing facility in Puyallup. No family was found for him.

Lee C. Yeck died at age 70 on 4/22/17 of natural causes in a skilled nursing facility in Tacoma. No family was found for him.

Listen: Reporter Joshua McNichols accompanied this ceremony in 2014 and created this audio postcard from the event.