4 will be interred with full military honors at Beaufort National Cemetery
By Mike McCombs
When most elected officials start a new job, they try and tie up any loose ends from before they took office. Beaufort County Coroner David Ott is no different.
Since early this year, the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office has attempted to locate and contact families of the 62 unclaimed cremated remains that have been stored by the office dating as far back as 1982.
“When I took office,” Ott said, “I made the decision to try and contact as many as I could.”
As a result of the efforts of Ott and the Coroner’s Office, families of 27 of the previously unclaimed cremains were reached and took possession of their loved ones. The cremains of one woman was claimed by her synagogue and interred with her husband.
Ott said the remains represented several different types of deaths, but in general, most were of natural causes. The Coroner said he was “absolutely” certain that his office had done its best to find loved ones for each of the 62 sets of cremains.
“Our staff has put a lot of man hours into it along with the help of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office Intel unit,” Ott said. “They have played a big part in researching these remains, as well.”
On Thursday, Nov. 18, the remaining 34 unclaimed cremains will be interred. Four of the cremains will be interred with military honors at 11 a.m. at the Beaufort National Cemetery. At 2 p.m., 30 will be entombed at the mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery, 611 Robert Smalls Parkway, in Beaufort.
The public is invited to attend the services.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
