Missouri Dad Inconsolable, Murdered Son's Ashes Got Lost in the Mail
A father whose son had been murdered could not accept that the U.S. Postal Service has lost his son's remains.
"They don't know where my son is... Why can't they find one box?" Randy Lindsay told The Huffington Post.
Four months after his son's murder, Mr Lindsay went to Forney, Texas to stay with his sister. While there, the grieving father realised the Texas grounds would be a good place on which to spread his son's ashes.
Mr Lindsay is a native of Texas. His murdered son was born and raised in Dallas.
"My son was an avid fan of University of Texas football and the Dallas Cowboys, so I wanted to see if I could get his ashes scattered on the 50-yard line at both stadiums. That way family and friends watching would know he is there with them," he said.
From his sister's place, Mr Lindsay phoned another sister to request arrangements for the shipping of his son's ashes. His sister boxed and mailed his son's ashes on July 5 from Cape Girardeau, Mo., to Forney, Texas. But the box never came.
"My sister mailed his remains... They were sent parcel post, and were insured for $500," Mr Lindsay said.
Murdered and lost
Mr Lindsay's son, 23-year-old Joshua William Lindsay, was shot dead on Feb. 22 in Saluda, N.C. A friend of Joshua, Brandon Cody-Lee Case, 23, has been charged with first-degree murder, but a motive was not established. Joshua had a 10-month-old son.
When he learned his son's ashes had been lost, Mr Lindsay suffered a fresh blow of agony, having lost his son twice.
"The local [postal] office said there was nothing they could do... They gave me a number for consumer affairs and I got nowhere with them," he lamented.
"They told me [Friday] that they still haven't located them," Mr Lindsay said, recalling that he was told about a mail recovery center in Atlanta, Georgia, in which misplaced packages go.
"But despite days of searching in Atlanta they haven't turned up anything," he said.
Mr Lindsay is even more heartbroken that there is nothing else he could do at this point, when a month has passed since Joshua's remains were shipped.
"I just sit around and stare at the wall. What else can I do," he said.
After reaching out to News 8 to seek support in his ordeal, Mr Lindsay received numerous updates from the Postal service which said a non-stop search is on to find his son's remains.
In a statement to News 8, the Postal Service said:
"Due to their sensitive nature, we recommend that remains be mailed via Express Mail or Registered Mail so that delivery will take place within two days. Mr. Lindsay's remains were sent via Parcel Post, and the package was not identified as containing remains."