The ashes of a father which were lost in the post whilst being sent from the US to the UK have been found again.
Lisa Barrett, 63, said her sister in Mississippi posted a sample of their dad’s ashes to her home in Doncaster because she had been unable to attend his funeral.
The parcel was never delivered, and Royal Mail had said it was returned to the US after exceeding its retention period, because a customs fee was not paid. However, the United States Postal Service had said it never received the parcel.
The situation has been resolved after Lisa’s sister, Laura Greeno, 56, confirmed the package was returned to her.
Ms Barrett said she was “really overwhelmed” the family had retrieved the ashes of her father, Kenneth Wilson, who died of natural causes in the US in 2021.
She also said Royal Mail sent her financial compensation for the mix-up and a box of flowers.
She added the experience brought her closer to her sister, who she had previously said “did not always see eye to eye” with her.
“The two of us, for the first time in a long time, we had to put our differences aside and our heads together.”
She said a video call between the two, filmed by Look North, was the first time they had seen each other since at least 2018.
“I broke into tears, she just looked so beautiful to me. I actually reached out to touch her, and I wanted to tell her everything was going to be alright.
“Every place we looked seemed to be a dead end, and I just couldn’t help but start to wonder if this should have been done in the first place.
“But it should have been done, for no other reason than the thought behind it – she could have sent me ashes from the Labour Day barbecue, and I would’ve been as excited.”
