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4 veterans, 30 people who died in Beaufort Co. were never claimed. Now they'll be buried

Island Packet - 11/17/2021

Nov. 17—The cremated remains of 34 people who died in Beaufort County will be buried on Thursday because their bodies were never claimed, the Beaufort County Coroner's Office said.

Four of the people were veterans and will be entombed at the Beaufort National Cemetery with military honors at 11 a.m., according to Beaufort County Coroner David Ott.

The other 30 will be interred in a mausoleum at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Beaufort at 2 p.m.

The deaths date as far back as 1982.

Ott said that, since he took office in January, his agency has been working to contact the next of kin for 61 unclaimed bodies plus an urn found on the side of the road.

Each was identified except for one, he said.

Through the agency's efforts, Ott said, families of 27 people were reached, and they claimed the remains of their loved ones.

The remaining 34 people either did not have family that could be located or their family did not wish to claim them, Ott said.

Beaufort County is spending $4,884 to inter the 30 cremated remains in a crypt in the mausoleum. Ott estimates there's ample space to inter more unclaimed remains for at least another 150 years, and that allows for cost-effective entry into the mausoleum in case families come forward later.

This story was originally published November 17, 20213:17 PM.

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