Woman's thrift store find turns out to be man's ashes—leading to long awaited closure for family

Many times, we do come across uplifting stories of family reunions. But rarely do we hear of loved ones uniting even after their passing. Before you think of a Sci-fi fiction novel based on time travel, this real-life event happened when a man returned to the safe hands of his family years after he passed away. A Florida woman, Nicole McClain, found the late Mark Johnson’s ashes in an urn keychain at a local thrift store. As per CBS affiliate WJAX-TV, the former thrift employee instantly decided that she would track down the whereabouts of his loved ones.

The heartwarming story of the family reunion started with McClain discovering the urn keychain with Johnson’s name. The amazing find was part of the thrift store’s ex-worker routine exercise of sorting donations at a local store located in Yulee, Florida. Furthermore, her story gained traction with the CBS affiliate’s Action News JAX reporting on the matter. Before this, the Florida resident’s initial hunt for months continued on her own with the help of social media.

“I was going through the box of donations, and at the bottom, I pulled out this little container. I thought it might be a pill case or something, but then I found out it was ashes… the ashes of a man named Mark Johnson who passed away in 2020,” WJAX-TV quoted McClain as saying. She initially believed the tiny container to be a pill case, but after looking more closely, she saw it contained something far more intimate.

Following this, Johnson’s ex-wife, Cindy Lizama, came into the picture after she received a text from her stepson saying his late dad was on the news. The Washington resident and former partner was surprised by the claim as she initially dismissed it. “And I was like, ‘What?’” she recalled while speaking to the local news outlet. Notably, Johnson fought hard against colon cancer, but he could not survive and passed away in 2020. At the time of his passing, he was living with his ex-girlfriend.

 Meanwhile, McClain, who had spent significant time and energy in finding Johnson’s family, found initial success on November 28. The woman from Yulee was finally able to draw the attention of the local news outlet. This prompted Lizama and her other family members to reach out to McClain as they finally got their hands on Johnson’s last remains. Johnson and Lizama were separated when he passed away, and his girlfriend sent her only a small vial of his ashes.

The one discovered at the thrift store in Yulee was the same vial that was carrying Johnson’s ashes. Thanksgiving Day saw the return of the ashes to his family. “He always wanted to be famous and now he’s got his 15 minutes of fame,” Johnson’s 19-year-old daughter Adriana told the CBS affiliate. While remembering her dad, Adriana described him as “a big goofball” and “a fun dad.” According to Adriana, the reunion with Johnson’s remains was a bittersweet memory. “Having this piece of him back feels like part of the wound is healing,” she concluded, adding her dad would always remain close to her heart.