When a loved one dies, there are a lot of things to handle, especially when you live in another state. You have to rely on a lot of different systems to make sure everything goes smoothly. So if something goes wrong, it can be devastating. Currently, a grieving Louisiana woman is saying the United States Postal Service lost her mother’s remains.
Losing something as personal as human remains is an unimaginable stress. But the woman is determined to get her mother back. She’s even gotten her local government officials involved.
Stepheni Leguin’s mother Mary Woodrow, died in December 2024 in Omaha, Nebraska. Leguin had to travel from her home in Louisiana to Omaha to handle the arrangements, she told WOWT.
After her mother’s death, her body was cremated. Unfortunately, Leguin couldn’t stay in Nebraska and wait for her mother’s remains. So the mortuary that performed the cremation sent her a picture of the urn, all packed and ready to ship in early January 2025. According to Leguin, she had yet to receive her mother’s ashes, two months after they were allegedly shipped.
“How did they lose someone’s cremated remains?” Leguin asked during her interview with WOWT. “They were sent with tape on all sides of the box stating they were cremated remains and I was assured they would be received in two days, and nobody knows where they are. It doesn’t make any sense.” She explained that she’s filed a missing mail claim with USPS.
WOWT investigated the incident, learning that the mortuary did in fact box up the urn and properly address the package. A tracking number given to Leguin shows that a post office in Omaha had her mother’s remains as of January 7.
But Leguin says that in the two months since the update on the tracking number, her mother’s remains have been lost or rerouted.
“It breaks my heart,” she lamented. “I don’t know where my mom’s ashes are. How am I to grieve her if I don’t even know where she is?”
Woodrow’s partner, Ron Westphalen, also spoke about his late girlfriend’s missing ashes. “It’s not like it’s a Valentine,” he said. “It’s a human being. They need to have respect for that and somehow, someone has to be accountable for this.” He added, “This was something very important, so precautions should have been taken.”
To help with her case, Leguin has enlisted the help of her congresswoman, US Rep. Julia Letlow. According to Letlow, she has submitted a congressional inquiry to the USPS. She assured that she and her staff would help Leguin find her mother’s ashes.
“I know she was wanting to travel more, but this isn’t the way she would have wanted to do it,” Leguin quipped.
