I always thought of cremation as an ideal way to deal with remains. It’s dignified, it doesn’t pollute the earth, and in general, when people hold onto their loved one’s remains, it’s a wonderful way for them to keep the deceased in their lives. But when those remains aren’t properly handled, it is beyond dehumanizing.
Florida resident Daniel Rolando, 26, has been charged with one felony count for littering an over 500-pound bag of trash that contained a bag labeled as cremated remains, according to People.
The remains belonged to Nina Monica Brown, 39, who died in 2024, according to Gulf Coast News. The outlet reported that Heather Lemcool alerted authorities that someone had dumped the trash off of Cartouche Avenue in Punta Gorda, Florida, and let them know human remains were present.
“It was straight box and plastic bag from the funeral home, like you would pick her up. It wasn’t even an urn, nothing,” Lemcool explained. “Her name, day to day, date of birth and date of death, and the funeral home was all on this, ID card attached to the ashes.”
Within the garbage were also pieces of mail addressed to an unnamed woman who told officials she had no idea why her mail was near Brown’s remains in Punta Gorda. The woman stated that she had been living in Sarasota for the past three years but was able to identify from photos that about 80% of the trash was her property.
Officials learned that the items were in a SmartStop Storage facility in Sarasota that she defaulted on, which led to the items being put up for auction on October 16.
Rolando was identified by the facility as the auction winner, and he confessed to dumping items he wasn’t interested in keeping. Authorities had him return to the dumping ground to clean up his waste items and he was arrested. He has since been released on bond.
According to Wink News, Brown’s friend Precious Tunstall is working with authorities to obtain the remains to return to her family. She revealed that Brown had succumbed to complications from sickle cell disease. Doctors allegedly told her she couldn’t live past 21 and would never bear children, and she defied both of those odds.
“It was very inconsiderate of him to just dump her on the side of the road,” Tunstall shared. “I would like to have her ashes back, her remains back, so her children can have her remains.”
