Woman ‘heartbroken’ after Royal Mail lose her mum’s ashes in the post

‘Part of my mother is floating around somewhere. It’s not nice’

A woman has said she is “heartbroken” Royal Mail managed to lose some of her mum’s ashes in the post.

Christine Evans died in December 2021 at the age of 62 after catching Covid-19. Honouring her mother, Kayleigh purchased a silver memorial pendant to encase some of her ashes in.

The pendant read: ‘Your wings sister were ready but your heart was not.’

Kayleigh then intended to send the necklace to her mum’s only sibling, her sister Michelle, as a gift.

She says she posted it first class on September 21 from Swansea to Colchester, expecting it to be delivered in a matter of days.

But as of October 25 the package still hasn’t arrived, and Royal Mail have said they don’t know where it is.

Kayleigh told WalesOnline: “Royal Mail hasn’t got a clue where the necklace and the ashes are. They keep saying they just can’t find it.

“Obviously, my auntie is mortified. She’s devastated. She was saying ‘that’s my sister Kayleigh!’, but what can I do?”

She continued: “They’ve [Royal Mail] just said they don’t know where it is. They blamed it on the strike first of all, I just really don’t know. It’s just been lost. They’ve said there’s nothing they can do.”

The episode has cause a lot of upset for the family, with Kayleigh saying: “It’s not even about the necklace, part of my mother is floating around somewhere. It’s not nice. It’s heartbreaking, it’s weird really.

“It’s her sister more than anything that I’m upset about. When I sent it off to her she was saying ‘thank you so much’ and she was so pleased, and now she’s just devastated.

“When I rang and said it should be there by now, Royal Mail just said it’s in a postal station somewhere. We’re all devastated.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We are very sorry for the distress experienced by our customer in relation to this delivery. We understand the deep emotional significance of this item, and extend our deepest sympathies.