Family Buys Prop Casket For Halloween, Finds Dead Woman's Ashes Inside

A Maryland family's Halloween celebration turned truly dark after the unexpected discovery they made inside a prop casket. The Wozniak family from Baltimore opened the casket bought for the festivities and were shocked to find the personal belongings of an actual dead woman, along with her ashes.

The family reportedly ordered the tin display casket on the Facebook Marketplace. Little did they know that they were also in possession of items belonging to a woman who had been cremated in January, the New York Post reported.

The deceased woman, identified as Edith Crews was 74 years old when she died of COVID-19.

The casket contained a picture of Crews, along with her death certificate and the hospital bracelet she wore in her final days. An envelope taped to the bottom contained what was believed to be the woman's ashes.

Brooke Wozniak shared the grim discovery on her TikTok account, along with a photo of the deceased woman and her belongings, hoping to find her surviving family so they could return the items to the rightful owner.

"Everyone was in shock. And we didn't really know how to feel about it," Wozniak said, as per the outlet. "My first reaction was, we've got to find the family. We gotta find whoever the next of kin is or whoever knows her."

As the clip went viral on the video-sharing platform, the deceased woman's grandchild came across it and informed Edith's daughter, Sabrina Jones.

Jones revealed that her mother was a community pastor who had died after a prolonged battle with COVID-19. "I'm the one who took her to George Washington University [Hospital] and left her there," an emotional Jones told Fox 5 DC.

"She was my best friend. I loved my mom dearly," Jones added, thanking the Wozniak family for helping her reclaim her mother's memories.

When asked about how the casket's items reached the Wozniak family, Jones said they had rented the casket through Freeman Funeral Services in Clinton, Maryland, for her mother's service, following which she was cremated. However, she had absolutely no idea how it ended up on the Facebook marketplace, Jones said.