When Chantal Clarke and a friend took her dog for a walk along a Gold Coast beach, she made an unexpected find.
There nestled in the wet sand at Broadwater laid a blue plastic urn with a name printed on it – George Esztergomy.
Now the story of how the ashes of a man came to be more than 2,000 kilometres away eight years after he died is slowly unravelling.
A label on the urn showed Mr Esztergomy, aged 55, died and was cremated in June 2014.
Also on the label was Fulham Funerals and SA Cremation Services, which led Ms Clarke to contact ABC Adelaide.
After ABC Adelaide published the story, Ms Clarke received a phone call from the previous owner of Fulham Funerals.
"He said 'I've got the archives. I remember George. He had an unfortunate life. He lived in a house for disadvantaged people and the funeral was done for free'," she said.
"George's ashes was given to George Senior, who was in his 80s at the time, and he passed about 18 months ago.
"So now the unanswered question is how did the ashes come to be up here on the Gold Coast on the beach? Did somebody just throw the entire plastic container off the bridge instead of scattering them?"
Fulham Funerals is still trying to contact the man's family.
Ms Clarke said she believed the urn still contained the ashes of Mr Esztergomy as it was still sealed.
She is trying to track down his loved ones to return the remains and give the man "dignity" at death.
"They deserve to be treated with respect and the story deserves to be followed until we know what to do with George," Ms Clarke said.
"I thought I was going for a walk to pick up trash, I didn't expect to pick up a bloke.
"I couldn't just leave him there. Now he's staying with me in the apartment on the window overlooking good views.
"My kids were horrified I brought him home."
The Broadwater resident said an online search gleaned little insight into who the deceased was, but she believed the name was Hungarian.
Ms Clarke said the urn was sealed and "heavier than I expected", suspecting water may have entered the container.
"The label is partially damaged. I don't think it's been in the water for more than a week," Ms Clarke said.
Ms Clarke hopes the remains can be reunited with his family.
