Dad's ashes found after getting lost in post

A man's ashes that went missing in the post in a transatlantic mix-up have been found again.

Lisa Barrett, 63, said her sister in the US had posted a sample of their father's ashes to her home in Doncaster because she had been unable to attend his funeral.

The parcel was never delivered and Royal Mail said it had been returned to the US after exceeding its retention period, as a customs fee was not paid. However, the United States Postal Service had said it had never received the parcel.

The situation has now been resolved after Lisa's sister, Laura Greeno, 56, confirmed the package had been returned to her.

Ms Barrett said she had felt "really overwhelmed" after the family retrieved the ashes of her father, Kenneth Wilson, who died of natural causes in the US in 2021.

She also said Royal Mail had sent her financial compensation for the mix-up and a box of flowers.

She said the experience had brought her closer to her sister.

"The two of us, for the first time in a long time, we had to put our differences aside and our heads together," she said.

Ms Barrett said a recent video call between the two had been the first time they had seen each other since about 2018.

"I broke into tears, she just looked so beautiful to me," she said.

"I actually reached out to touch her, and I wanted to tell her everything was going to be alright."

Speaking about the missing parcel, she said: "Every place we looked seemed to be a dead end, and I just couldn't help but start to wonder if this should have been done in the first place.

"But it should have been done, for no other reason than the thought behind it - she could have sent me ashes from the Labour Day barbecue, and I would've been as excited."

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