Ohio man recovers father’s ashes weeks after truck was stolen from parking lot

COLUMBUS — An Ohio man has recovered his late father’s ashes nearly a month after the pickup truck they were inside was stolen.

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Zach Miller of Lancaster had his truck stolen from a downtown Columbus parking lot in late February.

As he told our news partners at WBNS, the truck itself wasn’t his primary concern.

“The worst thing is my dad’s ashes were in the truck,” he told WBNS when the theft was first reported.

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His truck also had thousands of dollars worth of tools inside it, but his main concern was the ashes.

Columbus Police contacted Miller last week and told him they had a lead on where his truck was. They told him it had been found at an apartment complex less than 10 minutes from where it was stolen, but added that it was impounded.

Miller went to get his impounded truck, but told WBNS there was a troubling sight when he got there.

“When I first got to it, the first thing I seen laying right on top was the lid to the tin, so my heart sank a little bit,” Miller said. “So, I was like, oh, maybe it’s not in here or got thrown away.”

He continued to search and was able to find the rest of the can with his father’s ashes still in a sealed bag.

“It was exciting, it was good,” he told WBNS. “Glad to have him back. My grandmother, she was very happy. I’m pretty sure she was crying, but she won’t admit that.”

Miller said it looked as if his truck had been used as a dumpster, with the center console and compartments busted. The majority of his tools were also gone.

WBNS asked Miller what his father would’ve thought of the ordeal and recovery of his ashes.

“He probably would’ve laughed,” Miller said. “He lived life a little on the wild side too, so...he probably would’ve laughed and had a good kick out of it.”

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