Wichita Police now know how an empty coffin ended up on the roadside near the 3800 block of North Seneca on Thursday.
Lieutenant James Espinoza says that someone who worked at a cemetery in the area came forward and explained to police that a family had a body of a loved one exhumed for cremation in late February.
"When they did that the family was responsible for the removal of the used casket or coffin, in this case,” Espinosa says.
He says the family contacted a hauling company that took possession of the coffin in the first part of March.
“This coffin was taken to a lot that they owned at which time a thief or thieves stole the coffin," he says. "We believe that it was due to the fact that they wanted to try to get some type of scrap metal for it.”
According to Espinoza, once the thieves found out they could not scrap the casket, they stripped off the handles and left it alongside the road on North Seneca. He says the hauling company did not report to police that the coffin was taken.