AKRON, OH (WOIO/RNN) - A simple trip through an Akron neighborhood on Saturday morning began a viral mystery into a casket left in front of a house for trash pick up.
Matt Ulichney was driving on Crosby Street when he said he saw the silver and blue casket sitting on the tree lawn, more commonly known as the devil’s strip in Akron, and though he should pick it up.
“He happened to pass it and it stopped him dead in his tracks,” Ulichney’s wife Heather Bailey said.
Bailey posted the picture of the lonely casket on Facebook and it has gone viral with more than 1,000 shares.
“We’re literally dying over the comments and reactions,” Bailey said.
Take a look at them in the Facebook post below.
As the saying goes, “One man’s [casket] is another man’s treasure,” ... or something like that, so Ulichney called on his sons with a pickup truck to load it up.
“When they were loading it no one came out,” Bailey said. “The neighbors watched as this was happening -- you know, gawked.”
Bailey said the house it was sitting in front of looked vacant.
So, who it belonged to, why it was in a house, who it was for and why it was being thrown away is all still a mystery.
But those weren’t the only creepy cryptic mysteries surrounding the trash.
The casket was locked.
“They went through a convenience store drive-through to pick up some beer. They were nervous about opening it,” Bailey said.
Bailey said the lock was a little tricky to get open even with liquid courage from the beer.
With some Allen wrenches and other tools, they were able to get it open.
“Sure enough it was empty. But it was pristine, it even had the blue satin pillow still in it," Bailey said.
The casket is dirty, “But not like in the ground dirty,” Bailey said.
The family has coined the hashtag “#trashcasket” and they plan to clean it up and put it on display at the next Gypsy Caravan Flea, at the Gypsy Grace antique store on Oct. 14 from noon until 5 p.m.
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