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The mystery of the tiny urn The urn was found in shallow water along the Applegate River. Photo by Jane West Monday Nov 14, 2016 at 12:01 AM Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune When Medford resident Jane West spotted a tiny aluminum cylinder in shallow water in the Applegate River in August 2014, she knew immediately what she had found. "I was just hiking with my dog, and there it was under the bridge. Curiosity killed me so, knowing that it opened, I looked inside. I've seen ashes before, so I knew it was someone's remains," West said. The tiny urn sports a weathered pewter rose charm and a small dent, but no other identifying information. West said as she inspected the cylinder, she instantly remembered a Facebook post from weeks earlier, by a local resident who was distraught over losing a loved one's ashes after a day of "fun in the Applegate." "As soon as I found it, I remembered a post on Facebook. You know when people throw things on your news feed. I remembered it coming up about a month before. I went back online and tried to find it but was never able to," she said. West and her canine discovered the piece just downstream from Applegate dam, where Upper Applegate Road crosses over the river one final time. A dirt road takes off to the right, leading down to the riverfront, adjacent to Old Copper Road on the opposite side of the river. Fisherman's Trail, noted on maps, leads down to the water close to the bridge. "After we found it, every time we'd go back to the river, I would take it with me hoping that maybe somebody would see it and recognize it," she said. Jammie Payne, funeral director at Perl Funeral Home, said the style of the cylinder indicates it could be several decades old. "It's unique enough with the rose charm that the person who owns it would know it if they saw it, especially if they remember where they lost it and if the dent happened before they lost it, too," Payne said. Jewelry style keepsake urns, she noted, are common for families who have had a loved one cremated. Payne said funeral homes offer the trinkets, and they can be purchased online. "These jewelry pieces are very sentimental. Probably somebody was swimming and it came off," Payne said. "I'm sure whoever lost it still wishes they could get it back." Even after two years, West said she doesn't feel right just setting the cylinder aside and not trying to return it to the deceased person's family. "It's just out of respect. When somebody keeps something like that, it's pretty important, so it's a big deal for me that they get it back," she said. "If I can help somebody get their loved one back, it just feels like the right thing to do." For more information, send an email to [email protected] or call 541-301-0372 or 541-301-4552. — Reach Medford freelance writer Buffy Pollock at [email protected].