BOISE, Idaho — Dying alone can be a fear for many of us, but for dozens in Ada County, that was their reality.
Passing without anyone to come forward to claim their remains. But after a special ceremony -- those who were forgotten -- were remembered.
The unclaimed remains of 12 people were laid to rest Thursday at Terrace Lawn Memorial Gardens, outside the Cloverdale Funeral Home.
Until now, the remains had been sitting on a shelf in the Ada County Coroner's Office after going unclaimed or abandoned.
“This is absolutely an important ceremony. Every year we find these numbers increasing and we feel like they need a proper resting place, they were a life, they were a human life and a coroner’s closet is no place for them,” said Ada County Coroner Dotti Owens.
Cloverdale Funeral Home donated a mausoleum crypt for the remains.
The coroner's office holds remains for a year in case the deceased's family decides to come forward.
Owens says that even after they are interred at the cemetery, the remains can be released to verified relatives who claim them.
Here are the names of those that were laid to rest Thursday:
James Comparato, Kathleen R. Gilmore, John B. Goscinski, Joyce M. James, Jay William Keaton, Lyle Kurt, Timothy A. Maloney, Patricia A. Sanvido, Sandra L. Spencer, Jack Eric Taylor, Bretton R. White, and Allan L. Woods.