Unattended Urn Found at Fillmore Gas Station Returned to Family

An urn containing the ashes of a Santa Barbara woman is being returned to her family after someone left the urn at a gas station in Fillmore.

A woman found the urn on top of a gas pump at the 7/11 on Friday night and contacted NewsChannel 3.

The urn contained the remains of Coraline Nelson, a longtime Santa Barbara resident who died two years ago.

A neighbor and friend of Coraline says she suffered from Dementia, but was a nice woman. “It’s sad. It breaks my heart. She is a person that had a lot of history and to have the ashes show up in Fillmore is just not the right thing. There are better things for such a nice lady,” said Eric Larson.

Coraline’s name and the mortuary were listed on the bottom of the urn.

McDermott-Crockett & Associates Mortuary did not disclose who they originally released the remains to in 2012.

But, in less then 24 hours, the mortuary was able to locate one of Coraline’s daughters and deliver the urn to her in Carpinteria.

Larson says he’s happy to the urn is back with family. “She was a charming lady. I wish I knew her years ago. She was quite talented and had a lot of passions,” Larson said.