Appeal after ashes of girl, 12, found in Southport park

The casket was found lying in the undergrowth in Hesketh Park, Southport

An appeal has been made to solve the mystery of how the ashes of a 12-year-old girl who died exactly 46 years ago ended up being found in a park.

Yvonne Harrison, from Preston, died on 3 February 1977 and her body was cremated at Preston Cemetery.

An oak casket containing her ashes was found last summer by Emma Lawless while on a trip to Hesketh Park in Southport.

Chris Brown from the cemetery has asked for the public's help to find out what happened to the girl's remains.

Ms Lawless, 34, told BBC North West Tonight: "Me and my two daughters come to the park all the time, and I just noticed a wooden box.

"I came back the week after and saw it was still here, so I thought 'I wonder if it's empty or full still?'.

"So I just gently picked it up, and it was really heavy.

"It was a really clean, bright wooden box. It just didn't look right, it stood out."

An engraving on the casket, found hidden in the undergrowth, revealed the identity of the girl inside - Yvonne Harrison.

"Losing a child must be horrendous anyway, and then to lose the ashes again must be heart-breaking if that's the case," said Ms Lawless, who reported her find in June to the local council.

"We received a phone call from Southport crematorium," said Mr Brown.

"They asked if we had a record for this name. They gave me the date of death and all the information they had, and I found the deceased within our ledger."

Why does the plaque read "Eyvonne" rather than "Yvonne"?

Mr Brown cleaned the tarnished plaque so the inscription could be seen more clearly.

It was engraved with the name "Evyonne" rather than Yvonne.

"The authority card inside the casket confirms that the name is actually Yvonne," said Mr Brown.

The Register of Cremations details the name of the person who makes the cremation application.

In this case, it was a James Harrison who, at the time, lived in the Holme Slack area of Preston with Yvonne.

"We really want to find the applicant, or a relative of the applicant," said Mr Brown.

"Any set of ashes is really important that it is in the correct hands, but in this case, with it being a child, I think it's really important that the ashes are reunited with the family."

He said it was very unusual for ashes ever to be lost.

"I've been doing this job for 13 years," said Mr Brown. "and this is the first time it has happened to me.

"I don't believe it has happened to anyone else - it's unheard of really... just to find a set of ashes in a casket, in the middle of a park."

Chris Brown wants to reunite the ashes with their rightful owner

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