HOHENWALD, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Shelbyville family can finally breathe a sigh of relief after reuniting with precious items that were unexpectedly found in a storage unit auction.
This is an update to a recent story from NewsChannel 5, when a Hohenwald woman purchased the unit, only to discover containers filled with human ashes inside.
In fact, after several years of bidding and buying storage units, this unique situation marks a first for Gerri Drews.
Gerri Drews, who has become well-acquainted with the world of storage unit auctions, recently won a bid on a storage unit, and while sifting through its contents, she stumbled upon several boxes labeled "Grannie's ashes."
This discovery left her puzzled. Drews recalled, "We were like, okay, why is there two, three, and four? Where's number 1? Did we not find it?"
Desperate to find the unit's previous owner and return the ashes to their rightful place, Drews asked NewsChannel 5's Aaron Cantrell for assistance. Aaron's story reached the original owner of the unit, Brittany Seibers.
"I jumped up. They all jumped up like, what's wrong? I said they just found our stuff, and we can get our ashes and everything back that we lost," Brittany Seibers explained.
Seibers had resorted to using the storage unit during a challenging period in her life, where she had placed a significant portion of her family's possessions into storage in an attempt to keep up with payments.
Seibers expressed her relief after being reunited with Grannie's ashes, saying, "My oldest daughter never got to meet her, and her actual dying words were my daughter's name."
But it wasn't just Grannie's ashes that were recovered. Another family member's ashes, who had also passed away, were among the precious items.
Drews confirmed, "There were two people's ashes in there."
Additionally, other priceless belongings were found within the unit, including a rose given to Seibers on an anniversary and sentimental items like her son's beloved dragon toy and her daughter's cherished unicorn toy.
Seibers says losing her family's stuff in a storage locker auction was never the plan. However, thanks to the efforts of Gerri Drews and the goodwill of humanity, Seibers can now sleep a little easier, knowing her prized possessions are back where they belong.
"I'm glad that she bought it over anybody else because who knows if anybody else would've done it," Seibers said.
Drews, frequently resells items from storage units in her shop. She allowed Brittany and her family to take home anything they wanted for free.
