Abandoned Casket Found In Tulsa Parking Lot

Friday, November 10th 2017, 9:06 am

By: Dee Duren

Here's something you're glad you don't see every day. A Tulsa woman drove by 49th and South Peoria Friday morning and saw a casket in a parking lot.

Misty McNelley said she lives in the area and was surprised to see the casket behind the old Ron's Hamburgers next to the Bank of America drive-thru. She reported the incident to police.

Tulsa police dispatch put her call on the scanner noting, "They're not sure if it is occupied."

Officers at first responded to the wrong location, but finally found it just after 8 a.m. News On 6 photojournalist Gary Kruse checked inside with the responding officer.

It was empty.

"It looks like it was probably a display somewhere because the cardboard is falling down inside," Kruse said. "It isn't new, and it has some water damage inside."

They don't know if it was part of a Halloween prank or a stolen item - or something meant for a dumpster. Kruse said he helped the officer move the casket aside so the public won't be reporting it all day.

Gary Kruse followed up by visiting Ninde Funeral Home nearby. An employee said it wasn't one of theirs, and display models at funeral homes are generally just quarter sections, not entire coffins.

Kruse said he was glad it was empty for more than just the obvious reason.

"It was all we could do to carry it the way it was," he said.

News On 6 learned the casket had been sitting on the porch of a home that was under renovation in a nearby neighborhood. A church came and picked the casket up.