A Winnipeg family fears another man's ashes in their mother's urn

A Winnipeg family is devastated and looking for answers after giving away the wrong urn for their mother.

Darlene Daughey's mother, Victoria, paid more than $700 to pick out a matching urn for her husband more than 10 years before he died in 2011.

“They had very distinctive features and you could tell they all got along. It was so beautiful,” Darlene said. “So we went with them because they had blue and green like the ocean.”

But when Darlene picked up the urn from Green Acres Funeral Home after her mother died, she knew something was wrong. His family was given the wrong urn and it didn't match his father's.

Not long after, Darlene went to her father's insect mausoleum and a few steps away saw the ashes of a stranger in an urn her mother had chosen.

“It was terrifying. It was indescribable,” said Darlene.

She believes the urn her mother chose was resold to another family, and the funeral home has yet to produce another for Victoria's ashes.

“It's good for them. They don't have to live with it every day of their lives. We do,” Darlene said. “We don't have closure.”

Darlene received a letter from Green Acres, where the funeral home was trying to locate such an urn. The urn will no longer be made. So the funeral home offered to replace her mother's and father's urns with another matching set.

“Our connections at glassblowing companies will create something similar to the original selection, but will be unique to your family in a way that no one else could,” the funeral home said in a letter to the family.

That wasn't enough for Darlene, but her mother said she chose these urns for a reason.

“My mom will never have a place to rest,” Darlene said. “It's to me – there are no words to describe it.”

The funeral home declined to comment to CBC, saying it needs to protect the privacy of its clients.