Fillmore Woman Find Urn at 7/11 Gas Station

A Fillmore woman is searching for the family of Coraline Nelson, after she found Nelson’s unattended urn at a gas station.

Velia Ortega was pumping gas at the 7/11 on West Ventura Street in Fillmore on Friday evening, when her friend at the gas pump next to her noticed something sitting on top of his pump.

“He says ‘Is that what I think it is?’ And I said ‘Yeah that’s an urn,’ and he said ‘Oh, wow,’ and he kind of stepped back a little bit and was kind of skeptical,” said Ortega.

When Ortega saw the urn all she could think about was her mother and that if her mom’s ashes were sitting up there she would want someone to return them to her family.

“My mom was also cremated so I have an urn at home with my mom so it definitely hit home,” said Ortega.

Not wanting to leave it unattended Ortega brought the urn home with her and started looking for answers. On the bottom of the urn she found a stamp by McDermott-Crockett Mortuary. It included the name Coraline E. Nelson and the place of death as Santa Barbara.

Ortega says she has called the mortuary and multiple funeral homes but has yet to find any answers. She is now hoping someone with information about how she can contact Nelson’s family will reach out to her.

If you have any information to help Ortega contact Nelson’s family, please email NewsChannel 3 Reporter Kelsey Gerckens at Kelsey.gerckens@keyt.com