Mystery urn found in front of Barrie, Ont. home reunited with family
The mystery behind an urn found in the front lawn of a Barrie home has been solved.
Back in May, Monique Bennett found the urn with the name Marketa Boruta placed in a garden near the front door of her new home in Barrie.
“I just wanted to find out who it belonged to and return it back to the family. I was worried it was lost,” said Bennett.
So Bennett took her search for the family to social media, sharing her story with CTV News Barrie.
Her search generated interest from Canadians across the county, with the grandchildren of Marketa Boruta being notified by relatives that their grandmother’s missing urn had been located.
“When we received the phone call, we were definitely very surprised, little bit stunned and definitely grateful,” said Jane Kovarikova, the granddaughter of Marketa Boruta.
Kovarikova says in 2016, the urn containing the ashes of her grandmother Marketa Boruta went missing, adding that the urn was misplaced during a move and never to be found again until recently.
“That was very hard on my family. There was a lot of guilt and challenges, there was no one to blame, and sometimes these things happen, and it’s a real gift that we can have Greta or what many know as Marketa back,” said Kovarikova.
Known to her family as Greta, Marketa Boruta immigrated to Canada from Czechoslovakia in the 1970s in search of a better life for herself and her family.
“She had a big strong personality, she was fairly charismatic, so we weren’t entirely surprised that her ashes were rediscovered in such a manner,” said Kovarikova.
On Monday, the family gathered at a cemetery in Barrie to honour Boruta while giving her a final resting place within the cemetery, a decision her grandson says was important to the family.
“It feels great to finally have found her. It was just surprising and nice to finally know where she is and to give her a final resting place,” said Daniel Kovarik, grandson of Marketa Boruta.
While the family honours Boruta with a final resting place, the mystery remains on how her ashes ended up on Bennett’s front lawn.
However, they say while the questions may never have answers, locating her ashes has created a friendship between the Kovarikovas and Bennett that will forever be bonded in the memory of a woman with an incredible journey in life and death.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.