Normal people collect things like coins, baseball cards, stamps, and newspapers memorializing historic events. Stranger people collect celebrity hair or “Murderabilia.” On Wednesday, police in Dayton, Ohio discovered the remains of 56 cremated bodies in black plastic urns in a closet at the foreclosed home formerly owned by the operator of a sketchy funeral home that had its license revoked this year, according to ABC News. The Dayton Daily News reports that all 56 boxes were labeled with the names and dates of decedents dating back to 1982. The state has never dealt with a disturbing collection of this kind and isn’t sure if the remains were unclaimed; the Daily News reports that state law requires that cremated remains be disposed of 60 days after they are not claimed in a grave or crypt or the like. “It was one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen,” said Dayton police Lieutenant Wendy Stiver, “but I’m not exactly surprised, given this funeral home’s history.” Stiver is wrong — it is both surprising and disturbing.
