Man discovers apparent ashes and bone fragments; sheriff’s
investigation is under way
San Martin – A Morgan Hill man dumping rubbish Friday morning found what appear to be cremated human remains at the San Martin Transfer Station at 14070 Llamas Ave.
“I saw some cardboard boxes, and, well, curiosity got the better of me, and I looked in one of the boxes,” said Abraham Margolin. “Inside, there’s four wooden urns or little wooden boxes, with human remains inside.”
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputy Serg Palanov said an investigation is under way to determine where they came from.
“I can’t say 100 percent, but based on the circumstances, I would say they’re cremated human remains,” Palanov said, adding that the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office picked them up to give them to the rightful owner.
Margolin said two of the boxes had nameplates on them, “Jake McCraine” and “Sophie McCranie,” and one of the boxes had no nameplate. On top of the fourth box was carved the name, “Tucker.”
Margolin found a plastic bag with what appeared to be ashes and bone fragments in one of the four urns.
Margolin said he discovered the boxes about 10:55am Friday when he was dumping trash at the landfill. He put the box containing the smaller boxes in his truck and returned to Morgan Hill. After calling the media to report his discovery, Margolin said he called Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office deputies.
The dump is in the county’s jurisdiction.
“The deputy told me I could be charged for transporting the remains,” Margolin said. “He told me I wasn’t interested in serving the community by calling the media first instead of him. He wasn’t real happy.”
Palanov said that no more remains were found at the dump.
“He could be charged with theft because he removed something from the landfill’s property and there’s a sign that prohibits scavenging and the employees there told him specifically he could not take the urns with him,” Palanov said.
Lt. Chris Forester, of the Sheriff’s Office and Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office, said he sees similar situations “all the time.” He said his office receives calls from landlords that find cremated remains when tenants move out and from storage companies when they find remains left in their facilities.
“We try to reunite them with family members,” Forester said, “and if that’s not possible, we store them in our indigent mortuary.”
An employee at Habings Family Funeral Home in Gilroy declined to comment and referred questions to the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office. Mike Dapuzzo, location administrator for Johnson Funeral Home in Morgan Hill, said he was not familiar with the names on the urns.
Teresa Chagoya, spokesperson for the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, said if remains are removed from the original location named on the burial permit, according to the state Health and Safety Code, it is a misdemeanor violation.
Also according to the Health and Safety Code, disposal of remains anywhere other than a cemetery is a misdemeanor violation which can be carry a charge of a fine, six months at the county jail or probation.
