Priscilla Bailey thought that her daughter would like a hanging glass ornament that she found at the thrift store, but she had no idea what was lingering inside. Once they came to the horrific conclusion, they didn't know if they should go to the police or the media first. The thrift store even offered to dispose of it for them just to save themselves...
The Thrifting World
Thrifting has become increasingly popular thanks to the movement of "reduce, reuse, recycle." It's also a cost-effective way to decorate your home, especially for the ever-changing seasons. Priscilla Bailey consistently shopped her local store for holiday decorations, craft ideas, and fun trinkets. She didn't have anything in mind as she browsed the crowded shelves one day, as per usual, but she always stumbled upon something that spoke to her!
Sifting Through Weirdness
Thrift stores can be weird. A lot of the time, people will use them as an "environmentally friendly" trash can. Patrons typically drop off items that they feel too guilty throwing out and basically let the thrift store managers deal with it. That means that there's never a shortage of bizarre, fun finds. Priscilla herself has found tons of different objects that were trash to others but a treasure to her. In fact, she ended up finding something extremely valuable while on her hunt for some new decor...
A Pretty Find
While exploring the shelves, something blue and shiny caught her eye. It was a heart-shaped glass with swirling designs adorned with metal clasps. It was very pretty and heavy, so Priscilla thought it was sturdy. In fact, she knew that her daughter would love this for her home! Her daughter, Kat Bartlett, owned a business making glass art, and Priscilla knew that this would be perfect for her.
A Surprisingly Low Price
Being the bargain hunter that she was, Priscilla noted the extremely low price of the ornament... A whopping two dollars. That struck her as odd. Something with this much work and craftsmanship put into it wouldn't normally sell for that low, even at a thrift store. Priscilla had a weird feeling about this...
Been Through This Before
This wasn't the first time that Priscilla came across something a bit weird in a thrift store. She's found money, jewelry, family photos, and even baby teeth! These finds are usually stuffed in pockets, bags, drawers, etc. It's quite often that something of sentimental value to a person is accidentally thrown into a second-hand store.
Blown Glass Fanatic
In this particular thrift store, there was an entire shelf dedicated to beautiful blown glass items. None of them looked the same, but none of them caught her eye quite like the blue heart. Plus, it was the cheapest on the shelf. Priscilla decided to put her gut feeling behind her and get the object. She even thought about keeping it for herself! It wasn't until she showed it to her daughter that she knew she had made a mistake...
Savers Finds
Savers is a huge thrift superstore that can be found all over the country. It makes it easy for people to give up their used items instead of just throwing them away in landfills. For people like Priscilla, this makes bargain hunting a fun and rewarding experience.
She Couldn't Believe It
That blue trinket that she found was one-of-a-kind. It looked handcrafted which was something that Priscilla always looked for in her new ornaments. The dark blue glass was sparkly and slightly see-through. Even if her daughter didn't want it, Priscilla knew that it would look perfect hanging above her kitchen sink in front of her window...
Cashing In
Priscilla noted that the price was only $2. That was really cheap, even for a thrift store. All of the other glassware that was on the shelf was at least 5 or 6 dollars at the least... So, why would they price this so low? They must have wanted to get rid of it, which Priscilla found a bit weird.
Showing Kat
Priscilla took the ornament home and met Kat out front. Kat helped her mother bring in her bags of thrifted goods and helped her sift through them on the kitchen counter. That's when Priscilla handed Kat the blue ornament. Kat noted that it was gorgeous, and the custom craftsmanship was incredible. The metal fixings on the heart were engraved with hearts and angels, something commonly found on items relative to people's passing...
Something Was Off
When Kat was holding the object, she felt like it was simply too heavy. A glassblower and ornament maker herself, Kat worked with the materials that it was made of quite frequently. The glass and the metal are pretty light, but the object itself was very heavy. Kat mentioned that and Priscilla agreed—there was definitely something inside...
Checking It Out
Kat had the idea to put a flashlight up to the object to try and peer inside. After all, they couldn't open it up without destroying the top. It was obviously meant to stay sealed. They could see something at the bottom, but couldn't make out what it was...
A Horrible Realization
Suddenly, Kat blurted out, "It's ashes, Mom!" Priscilla was shocked and couldn't formulate how she was feeling. Were they possibly in possession of someone's ashes? How could someone leave something so valuable in a thrift store? Priscilla had no idea what to do, so she made a few calls.
Raising The Alarm
Priscilla knew that she couldn't just set this aside. This had to have been a horrible mistake that someone made. She contacted her local news station, the police, and friends on Facebook to try and raise awareness for her accidental purchase. “I am in desperate need of this post to go viral!” she wrote. “It breaks my heart that this was tossed away and just sitting on a shelf at Savers for $2. Please share this post and [Instant Message] me if you have any leads at all.”
Kat Tried Helping
Kat did her best to give as many interviews about the ornament as she could. "My mom tried to give it to me and said, ‘Look what I found, I got it at Savers,’ ” Kat said. “I said to her, ‘It looks like it’s ashes, Mom.’ And she had put a flashlight up to it — and it’s ashes.” Kat struggled to tell the story. She was as heartbroken over this as her mother was.
Getting It Back
“I just want it returned to whoever it belongs to — a family member, I don’t really know,” Priscilla said in another interview. “Hopefully somebody knows or sees it [online]. It was probably a mistake. I just know I don’t want one of my family members, whether it’s an animal or not, in Savers for $2.”
Taking Good Care of it
Some people might feel weird having a stranger's ashes in their home, but Priscilla felt the opposite. "Right now it's hanging up there when I do my dishes I sometimes stare at it. I just thought it was pretty so maybe it was meant to come here who knows."
Spooky Friend
The challenge was to spread the word as much as possible. Priscilla was hoping that someone would come forward and say that it was their grandmother or grandfather. Until then, she was going to keep pushing the narrative in hopes that someone claims their, "spooky friend." She hadn't had any luck, though, and things were feeling like they were coming to a dead-end...
The Item Was Personalized
Kat could tell that this item was extremely personal to someone. Since it was handmade, she believed that the angels and the hearts were very purposeful. Also, the fact that the top was sealed shut indicated that something was inside... Could it really be ashes?
Finding the Rightful Owners
Kat and Priscilla were persistent. "It's beautiful. It must have a story. So that's my goal: to find out where and who this belongs to," Kat told reporters. They were trying everything, even trying to track down the owners through Savers...
Contacting Savers
Many people assumed that Priscilla didn't even try to contact the Savers, but she did. She was hoping that they might have held an inventory of items that came through and that they could possibly find out who left this object there. After all, this was a big corporation... Why wouldn't they keep track of what goes in and out?
No Help
Unfortunately, heading to Savers was a total bust. Apparently, they don't keep a good enough inventory to see when this would have entered the store. They get tons of donations daily, so sorting through everything to try and make a cohesive list wasn't cost-effective for them. Kat and Priscilla were upset at the unhelpfulness of the corporation, but they were angered when the manager of the store said something unbelievable...
Disposing Of It
Priscilla and Kat were about to leave when the manager said something unthinkable. In order to take the possible urn off of their hands, the manager said that the mother and daughter should bring the item in so that Savers employees can "dispose of it properly." Needless to say, Priscilla was angry...
No Way
Priscilla was fighting tooth and nail to try and find the rightful owner of these ashes. The fact that the Savers employee wanted to dispose of them was unthinkable, and she was offended at the suggestion. At that moment, Priscilla knew that this was going to be a fight that she and her daughter had to go alone. They were going to do anything to bring this person home!
Exhausting the Options
With no help from Savers, Kat and Priscilla continued their media trips and social media posts. A lot of people, even from across the country, were sharing their posts about the possible ashes. Most everyone felt for the situation and were thankful for the two selfless ladies to go on this quest. Unfortunately, those well-wishes got them no closer to finding a relative...
A Lost Cause?
After a few months, things felt hopeless. Priscilla and Kat had no solid leads about who owned the item before them. No friends or family recognized it and came forward. They felt like they were completely out of luck. Still, they persisted with pushing their story in desperate hopes of finding the family...
More and More Are Found...
Although they didn't find the family (yet) other people began coming forward with their bizarre stories of finding similar trinkets! There were about four people who had these ornaments and had gotten them from thrift stores or as a present, then, all of a sudden, things began to come together...
Shocked
Connie Whiteman had also contacted Kat about the heart. "Please let me know what you find out as I have one also. Found mine at a thrift shop too! It's heavy in weight." Connie, like Priscilla, was an avid thrifter and came across one of the same ornaments. She, too, was enthralled by it and decided to buy it.
Another One
After Connie wrote about her experience, another woman posted a photo of her own ornament. She, too, found it in a thrift store! "Mine was iridescent and heart-shaped like this one, but much less ornament and more suncatcher-like." Although, the twist about this one is that hers was empty, and she put the ashes from Mt. Saint Helen in there... There were compartments for ashes!
Sharing Their Stories
A few people have come forward with their stories. They were a little shaken up about the idea of having ashes in their ornaments. Unfortunately, some of them didn't have a thin glass and they couldn't see inside. The tops of their trinkets were also sealed, so it was nearly impossible to tell what was inside if anything.
More Similarities
To this day, Kat and Priscilla are circulating their story. People are still hearing of it, just like this Facebook user. She wrote that she found this ornament and hung it on her Christmas tree. She was concerned that hers, too, might be someone's ashes. Apparently, it seems that shes a little more freaked out than the others, but it's interesting to see that this is more common than they thought! These weren't your typical urns, so it's possible that they were all accidentally thrown into thrift stores...
No Happy Ending
Unfortunately, despite their similarities, none of them were able to come to the conclusion of what these were. The heart is still hanging in Priscilla's kitchen since no one has claimed it. Everything happens for a reason, and Priscilla thinks that she was maybe meant to have this all along...