MUNCIE, Ind. - The Delaware County coroner is trying to track down someone, who inadvertently left an urn of ashes when they moved out of a Muncie apartment complex.

Almost 30 days have passed since the abandoned ashes were discovered. 

The urn belonged to someone who lived at the Chateau Apartments, Apt E-3. When they moved, somehow they left the urn behind.

Maintenance workers told the apartment complex assistant manager Annette Alfont about the abandoned ashes, and she made every effort to contact the former residents.

"It's a big concern. We try to get things back to people that it belongs to," Alfont said. "We did our best and that's where we ended up."

The urn ended up at the Delaware County coroner's office. It came in a corrugated box that had clues. It said Vincent Kern's mother.

Coroner Scott Hahn tried to contact Kern without success, but he was not frustrated because of a metal tag attached to the urn with the number for the crematory, the crematory identifier and the identifier of the actual individual.

That information led to the Lavennia & Summers Funeral home. The funeral home is trying to assist the coroner in locating the next of kin. For him, it has been a reverse process.

"Normally we start out with a body. We're kind of working backwards," Hahn said. "We would normally identify the deceased and bring it to the mortuary and give that info to them. It's working opposite, getting that info from the mortuary and getting back to the family."

The coroner said he's already received some tips. Anyone with information is asked to call 765-747-7724.