Mysterious urn unclaimed after it floated into marina near Fort Myers Beach

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. —

A mysterious box floating into a marina near Fort Myers Beach has turned into a search for somebody’s loved one.

Employees at Salty Sam’s Marina say a sealed wooden urn drifted into the rocks near the docks a few days ago. When workers picked it up, they quickly realized this wasn’t just another piece of debris floating through the water.

“It’s somebody’s loved one,” said Ryan Vandenabeele, marketing director at Salty Sam’s. “It’s the remains of a person.”

The urn weighs roughly 12 to 15 pounds, has carvings of hands folded in prayer, and appears to be tightly sealed shut. But despite sitting inside the marina office for days, nobody has come forward to claim it.

There are also no labels, names, or identifying markings on the outside of the box.

“Usually, if something like this has been in the water, you’ll start to get some algae growing on it,” he said.

But Morgan McWilliams, general manager at Legacy Options Funeral and Cremation Services, says the urn itself actually appears older.

“With the praying hands design,” McWilliams said. “If I had to guess, I would say probably the 80s or 90s.”

McWilliams also said federal regulations require cremated remains scattered at sea to be released at least three nautical miles offshore. He said families are only supposed to scatter ashes directly or use biodegradable urns designed to break down in the water.

"There should be a disc with a specific number that's attached to the ashes inside of the urn," McWilliams said. "You have to assign a certain disc number to the individual so you can identify them later if cases like this arise."

Now, Salty Sam’s says if the family comes forward, the marina says it will offer a free burial-at-sea cruise to help give their loved one a proper final resting place.

Until then, the mysterious urn is safely inside the marina office and still waiting for answers.

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