Charles Sheets was an Air Force veteran from Crossville who passed away July 11, 2022. He was cremated, and his cremains were placed in a plastic box.
That container, still containing Sheets’ cremains, showed up in an unlikely location — a Crossville storage unit.
The strange odyssey of the cremains continues, as they’re now in the hands of members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5025 and have raised a number of questions.
In late August, Bethany Brown, who bought the storage unit at an auction, came by post headquarters on Hwy. 127 and donated the cremains, asking they take care of the “issue.” Post quartermaster Jeff Mercier said he doesn’t believe she is related to Sheets.
Post officials subsequently checked with the state and national VFW and local American Legion and learned Sheets was not a member of these organizations. Due to privacy laws, the Air Force would not release details on Sheets’ service record, according to Jay McClain, senior vice commander of Post 5015. He provided some further information on the unclaimed cremains.
McClain said Brown was cleaning out the storage unit when she discovered the 4-by-8-inch plastic box containing Sheets’ cremains. His name was on the container, and a cremation ID tag was inside.
“She was upset they were left behind,” McClain said.
According to McClain, the Hood Funeral Home name was also on the container. Brown subsequently contacted the funeral parlor on Hwy. 127 and learned Sheets’ cremains had been released to his family following his death in July 2022. McClain said the funeral home would not take back the cremains.
Sheets was 91 years old when he died, according to McClain, adding he was from Kentucky and moved to Crossville, where he did construction and woodworking. He had two sons, but efforts to contact them have been unsuccessful.
In the meantime, the VFW post is keeping Sheets’ cremains with the hope that someone will come forth with some additional information.
McClain said the sons could be deceased or unable to claim their father’s cremains due to other circumstances. If they’re unable to get in touch with anyone, they’ll conduct a service befitting a deceased veteran.
“We’ll have some kind of ceremony for him,” McClain said. “We’ll spread the cremains somewhere and give him a military sendoff. We’ll try and do it as honorably as we can.”