MORAINE — A local family was reunited with the remains of their loved one Thursday after a solid waste district worker spotted an urn in a load of trash dumped off at Montgomery County’s Solid Waste District plant in Moraine.
Jeovanni Russio was celebrating his birthday when his mother called him with some news about his grandmother Helen Russio. She had passed away 10 years ago.
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But, it was the quick action of a Montgomery County worker that made the reunion possible.
“When I first opened the box, I pulled it out and saw the picture for the first time, it was like all the memories came back to me,” Jeovanni Russio said. “It means everything.”
“He was loading one of the outgoing transfer trucks and as he was looking down at the truck to start tamping the trash down, he noticed an urn laying on top of the trash,” said James Profitt, solid services manager at Montgomery County’s Solid Waste District.
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Profitt said worker Nathaniel Stepp immediately took action to ensure the remains were protected.
“Once he noticed it, he basically took the excavator clamshell and picked the urn out of the trash, set it off to the side, and called one of our supervisors,” Profitt said.
That’s when they called Moraine Police.
“We have databases where we are able to put in somebody’s name, any identifiers we have and possible family members and next of kin,” Det. Brooks Thompson with Moraine Police said.
However, that didn’t work.
“We were unable to do so at the time, so thankfully we were able to work in conjunction with the funeral homes and find the next of kin for the deceased individual,” Thompson said.
Both Thompson and Profitt said this case was a different than others they normally deal with.
“It’s amazing to us. I’m sure it’s amazing for the family as well,” said Thompson. “If that was one of our family members, we’d want the same thing done.”
Jeovanni’s mother Bianca Stallworth said what happened was hard to believe.
“I’m sitting there thinking to myself is this a prank call, is this for real?” Stallworth said. “He was very fond of his grandmother.”
And now, Jeovanni’s grandmother, and the memories she brings back to life, have a forever home at her grandson’s side.
“We got her,” Stallworth said. “He says it was the best birthday gift ever.”