Suspected drugs found in car turn out to be grandma's ashes

A traffic stop in Wyoming led investigators to a powdery substance believed to be drugs, but it turned out to be cremated remains of a grandmother. The traffic stop happened at about 7 a.m. Wednesday on a stretch of Wyoming 28 in southwestern Wyoming, according to a Wyoming Highway Patrol media release. Two men in the car were arrested, the patrol said, after troopers found trace amounts of marijuana, syringes with residue, drug paraphernalia and multiple prescription medications, including OxyContin.

During the stop, troopers also found powder in a small zip-top sandwich bag, tucked inside a purple and gold-trimmed Crown Royal whiskey bag, inside the vehicle's centre console. Investigators initially believed the substance to be "poor quality cocaine or methamphetamine." That was not the case.



"After scrutinizing the powdery substance, questioning the two vehicle occupants and checking with the vehicle owner," who was not in the car, "it turned out that the small Baggie contained the cremated ashes of the vehicle owner's grandmother." The vehicle's owner told police that she was "very close" to her deceased grandma and "she always keeps her nearby in the console," the release said.

State police said storing ashes in bags inside a car console is unusual, but not criminal. "It's a little different, you don't come across it everyday," said Sgt. Stephen Townsend. The two men in the vehicle, Thomas Garay, 30, and Zachary Beason, both from Worland, Wyo., were charged with misdemeanor possession of a Schedule II prescription drug. The ashes were not confiscated.