Arnold and Jessica Davidson found more than they’d bargained for when they discovered what they believe to be cremated human remains in a tiny box purchased along with a group of toys for their store, The Toybox, in Marion.
MARION, Va. — Marion residents Arnold and Jessica Davidson welcome all those young at heart to enjoy a nostalgic visit to their childhood at their store, The Toybox, in downtown Marion. They never, however, expected to welcome a visitor who’s no longer living.
A recent purchase of toys included something most unusual and a bit disturbing. The Davidsons found what they believe to be human cremated remains in a small box among the toy purchases.
They are hoping to find the owner and return the ashes.
“Being a vintage toy store, we often make purchases of things people no longer want or have a use for,” said Jessica Davidson. “We are always in the market to buy, sell and trade vintage toy items. We started off this new year looking for larger lots for sale and personal collections. We purchased a sizeable lot from some folks in Bristol, Tennessee on Jan. 15, 2021.”
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The Davidsons each have quite a personal collection, and both enjoy the hunt for unique, vintage and collectible toys.
Arnold and Jessica Davidson found more than they’d bargained for when they discovered what they believe to be cremated human remains in a tiny box purchased along with a group of toys for their store, The Toybox, in Marion.
“We go through every item to make sure it isn’t broken and get it cleaned up before putting it out for sale,” Davidson said of toys purchased for the store. “As we were processing, down in a basket full of G.I. Joes, something caught my eye. It was a cute blue box with a flower on the top of it. It had tape around the top of it. The tape looked out of place and loose on the box, so I removed it. Curious about this little box, I decided to open it.”
She received the surprise of a lifetime.
“When I opened this box, I had to think for a moment. My gut told me immediately this was ashes. However, being a vintage toy store, surely there is no way we just stumbled across ashes, right?”
Davidson decided to investigate further, thinking that maybe this was a box of sand a child brought home from a nice beach vacation.
“When I touched the contents, it was very clear, very quickly, this was not sand,” she said. “Neither was it dirt. It was a strange feeling, knowing deep in my gut, that I had indeed just touched ashes.
“My mind immediately starts racing: Is this a person? Is this a pet?” The tiny amount could indeed be someone’s beloved pet whose ashes had been misplaced.
Davidson decided to let the customers help with this conundrum.
“Now I have to say, we have the absolute best customers,” she said. “I knew they would jump in on the chance to help us out. We did a Facebook live feed, asking for folks’ input on what this new discovery was. After all, I didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing, but I knew we needed another opinion.”
Their customers agreed with her assessment on the material in the box.
“The consensus was indeed that we had ashes,” Davidson said. “However, we were split down the middle with opinions on human or animal. My mind starts going through an entirely new set of questions now. How do we handle these ashes? Do we bury them? Do we spread them? After all, I can’t toss someone’s loved one in the trash. If it’s a pet, do I spread the ashes at the dog park? I don’t want to spread human ashes at the dog park. I was really struggling with how to handle this. We are no stranger to death, and we wanted to be as respectful as we possibly could.”
She added that she believed she only had one choice — call a funeral service and ask for advice.
The service she called told her that in their professional opinion, the Davidsons were the new owners of human cremains.
“That came with a 99% certainty as animal cremains do not have bone fragments like human cremains do,” Davidson said she was told. “I believe it has something to do with density. Now I do need to make sure and say we were told there is no way to be 100% certain without a DNA test. However, we trust the professional and are treating this as a person.”
This information only added to the dilemma. What to do?
“The strangest things we had to date were a Minnie Mouse piggy bank full of potato chips and a gaming system with cigarette butts in the game slot,” Davidson said. “We know to expect the unexpected, but this took that to a whole new level.”
Davidson said she and her husband have spoken with the people they purchased the toys from, but they could not help with information because they travel around to make purchases, as do the Davidsons.
“We are at a loss for how to locate the family and are looking for any help possible,” Davidson said. “If people would just tell folks they know about this, maybe we can help this box find its way back home.”
Davidson said she has named the box of cremains “Blu” because of the color of the box.
“If you are out and about, please stop by to see us and help us continue honoring this unknown life until we can find their home,” she said.
There are some identifiers that will need to be confirmed before “Blu” can leave The Toybox, Davidson said.
“This is just to ensure Blu is making it home with the right family. Thank you for your understanding,” she said.
