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Box Of Cremated Remains Discovered On Roadside, Police Investigating

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- It was John Bauer's experience and occupation that made his eyes zero in on an unusual object on Kirkpatrick Street in the Hill District on Friday evening.

"It looked like a temporary cremation container, so I looped down and around, and came back up, and sure enough, someone's cremains," Bauer told KDKA's Kym Gable.

KDKA was there as police investigated the scene near the intersection with 5th Avenue in the Hill District.

hill-district-cremains-box
(Photo Credit: KDKA)

Bauer is in the funeral business himself. He owns Elmer Herman Funeral Home in Hazelwood.

The name on the temporary cremation box is "Jeffrey Wright." It has a date of April 22, 2017, from the Jefferson Hills Crematory.

"I couldn't believe it. I was shocked," said Bauer.

Pittsburgh Police carefully collected the remains and took them back to Zone 2 headquarters.

Meanwhile, Bauer says he hopes that "this poor soul gets some type of burial – or return to where they belong."

According to Jefferson Hills Crematory, the urn was received and "signed out" by the Ball Funeral Chapel on April 25, 2017. Ball Funeral Chapel tells the Crematory that the cremated remains were given to the family on April 28, 2017.

"What has happened since April 25, 2017, although doubtlessly tragic, we do not and cannot have any control over," the Crematory said in a statement.

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