More than 450 cremated bodies have been lost in the post including one dating back over eight years, it has been revealed.
When a loved one dies and wishes to be cremated their body is turned to ashes at a local crematorium, and families are given their remains in neat urns.
Families often choose to make jewelry from their loved one's ashes so they can carry them forever.
To do so, however, the remains must be sent to a company across the country. And the only legal way to do that is to send them in a carefully marked package through the United States Postal Service by using its 'Priority Mail Express' option.
But shipping human remains isn't always a successful endeavor.
In an audit report published earlier this month, the USPS found that 452 packages containing human (or animal) ashes were lost or detained.
One was shipped in February 2015 — more than eight years ago.
Now, the governmental mail service's Mail Recovery Center is trying to find ways to get the packages to their intended recipients.
But how did so many fail to reach their final destinations?
Failure to follow the strict guidelines in place for the shipment of cremated remains is a common issue.
The packages must be labeled with a 4-by-6 inch sticker that says, "Cremated Remains," and the addresses must be legible on the packages. Customers must also use the "Priority Mail Express" shipment service.
Some shipments weren't labeled properly or had misplaced stickers.
A study by the USPS Office of the Inspector General revealed that about 28% to 50% of losses resulted from an improper following of the procedures.
Some of the packages, due to their improper labeling, were damaged.
"When damage does occur to the Cremated Remains package, the Postal Service's ability to contain the contents and/or identify the sender or recipient is limited," the report states. "Improving procedures for acceptance could reduce the number of damaged, delayed and/or missing Cremated Remains packages."
The USPS also identified issues with its supply of packages for cremated remains, which it said often took too long to reach customers, resulting in them using an outside service to acquire the packaging. That sometimes caused the packages to become damaged, as the customer-provided packages often aren't durable enough.
The report outlined areas for the USPS to improve its procedures. Among them were:
- Improving acceptance procedures for cremated remains
- Enhancing cremated remains packaging requirements
- Improving the monitoring of cremated remains packages in facilities
- Ensuring that the packages are monitored properly once shipped
As the demand for the shipment of cremated remains increases — the USPS report stated that demand increased significantly between October 1, 2020, and September 31, 2022, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic — the service will have to find ways to make the process more efficient and effective or risk losing more remains and angering dozens more Americans.
