PETERSBURG, Va. -- She planned on taking a short walk along the Appomattox River in Petersburg, Virginia, but when she spotted something near the water, it made her stop and go in for a closer look. What she discovered made her sad.
"As I'm looking out at the water, I look down at my feet, and laying on the embankment was a box," Liane Payne.
At first, she thought it was a bag of money.
It wasn't.
The box was from a crematory and inside a bag of ashes.
"I was like, oh, this is a person," she said. "It really shocked me because I have found some crazy things before but this tops them all."
The box appears to have come from Windsor Crematory in Lawrenceville, Virginia.
Petersburg Police have picked up the urn and its contents for safe keeping.
"[We're] getting them back where they need to be, whether it's the rightful family or to where they can rest in peace," Petersburg Police Capt. Greg Geist said.
Officers also intend to investigate how the remains ended up at the river.
"If it was my loved one, I'd want somebody to take care of it," Payne said.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
