Ohio woman's cremains lost in mail

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- An Ohio man says he feels like he's lost his wife all over again after her cremains went missing during transport by the U.S. Postal Service.

Barbara Kirkendall, 80, died last week while she was being treated for a blood infection at the Cleveland Clinic. After her body was cremated, her husband, Norman Kirkendall had her remains shipped by Priority Mail Express 1-Day to their home in Columbus.

A box carrying the ashes, an urn, an American flag and prayer cards were supposed to arrive at the couple's home on Saturday. As of Thursday, they still hadn't arrived.

"I was up at 5 o'clock in the morning, just waiting," Norman Kirkendall told The Columbus Dispatch of the day he was supposed to receive the package. "I feel like I've lost her."

Barbara Kirkendall's funeral service was held without her remains Wednesday and she was scheduled to have a military burial on Thursday.

"It's just devastating to all of us, we can't sleep. We have been calling around the clock the post office trying to get answers, but they just keep telling us they are searching," Debbie Vina, one of the Kirkendall's daughters, told MyFox28.

MyFox28 contacted U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, who spoke to the USPS on behalf of the Kirkendalls. A representative from the Post Office told Stivers the package couldn't be delivered because of a labeling problem.

USPS facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Kentucky have been ordered to search for the package.

"It's like I am dying myself, wish it were me instead of her," Norman Kirkendall said.

The Kirkendalls met at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., and were married for 61 years.