The Mystery of the Missing Bundle of Bones - C237

Fast Breaking News

Late this evening, this Ottawa Vet. received an alarming phone call which originated from a Funeral Home located in a large Canadian city. It was a disappointing call.

This Vet was told that the remains of our once proud and faithful member of the Force cannot be found. I had hoped for good news today. The mystery has not yet been solved.

I have authorized myself to explain one complicating aspect in the case. Many, many, years ago when the practice of cremation was first introduced into Canada, people held the idea that 'cremation' also included the full burial phase. Such was not the intention of  funeral homes. When some people were told that an additional cost was attached to the next phase (burial), they decided to leave the remains in care of the funeral home versus take responsibility for them. Over many years, funeral businesses have been left with thousands of unclaimed remains.

By law, remains must be retained by the funeral home until they are claimed by a rightful person(s) or until the last day.

In our case, there is a 'faint hope clause' at work. Authorities from the funeral home said that among the thousands of unclaimed 'urn's are hundreds of urns which have tags with ineligible writing. Thus, each 'urn' with an ineligible tag will have to be opened (one by one) and a metal identification marker inside the urn will have to be retrieved. The metal ID marker from inside the urn has the number assigned to the deceased. This Vet has been told there is a 'slight' possibility that our member may be identified by this method.

In the meantime, this Vet. also had a conversation with the active RCMP investigator involved in the Mystery of the Missing Bundle of Bones. The investigator had followed up on a helpful clue. The investigator said: 'that ...

To be continued.

'Maintain Our Memories'

Buffalo Joe
Ottawa Vet.