Distraught man appeals for return of his father's ashes left in back of taxi following day in pub

A grieving son has issued a plea for help after he left his dad’s ashes in the back of a taxi after spending a day in the pub. James Rice was collecting his dad’s ashes from his aunt, who came up from London three weeks ago. The 23-year-old, from Craigie in Dundee, and his family were collecting the ashes in order to honour his father’s wishes to bury him with his mother at Balgay Cemetery. But, after getting a taxi home having spent a day in town with his family, James left his father’s ashes in the back of the cab, only to realise what he had done the next day.

He said: “When it happened I felt absolutely gutted, it completely slipped my mind when I stepped out of the taxi. I only realised I had left them behind the next morning after I had got up. I’m now desperate to get them back. We were collecting his ashes from all our family members so we could honour his last wishes and bury him with his mum in Balgay Cemetery. The ashes were in four little containers inside a purple floral bag and were left in a silver cab. The cab must have been private hire, as it didn’t have any logos on it.”



Brian Rice died aged 67 on February 16 and was cremated at the crematorium in Ardler the week after. His ashes were then shared between his family.Brian’s sister, Pearl, took the ashes in her possession back to London for a time before returning with them to Dundee so he could be buried with his mother, Catherine at Balgay Cemetery. On Friday April 24, James and members of his family collected his aunt Pearl from the train station, where she had arrived carrying some of his father’s ashes. On her return, the Rice family thought it would be right to celebrate Brian’s memory and went to the pub. At around 11pm, James admits his memory went a “bit blank”.

James said: “I was out with my aunt Pearl, my mum Alison and my two uncles, Rab and Ally. We met at the train station, then went to the Market Bar to celebrate the memory of my dad. He was a lovely father and was the type of person who would help anybody. After coming out of the pub, we went to a takeaway on the Nethergate, then over to the taxi rank in front
of the Steeple Church next to the Overgate. We just jumped into the first taxi at the front of the queue and went back home to Craigie. My mind must have gone blank after that because I just don’t know how I could have forgotten something like that. If anyone could help find my dad’s ashes and hand them in to the police station or to the taxi rank, it would be appreciated so much.”