HOHENWALD, Tenn. (WTVF) — People make a huge living bidding and purchasing storage units.
Most of the time the buyer is only aware of a few items inside, but not everything. Gerri Drews, a Hohenwald resident, finds the value in boxes full of strangers' stuff.
It's why she bids on storage units. She takes a lot of the items and resells them at a shop, adjacent to her property. She named the shop after her daughter.
"Angel Acres Junk Store because it’s Angel’s farm," Drews said.
Drews has come across some unique items.
"I found a pig in a jar, like a baby pig and a baby Shark one time, which I thought was odd," Drews explained.
Recently something else made the list, after purchasing a unit for $100 in Shelbyville at Compass Self-Storage.
"A week later, I was digging through all the stuff because it was so much. We found boxes in the laundry basket in the bottom of the locker," Drews said.
The boxes were labeled “Grannie’s Ashes”.
"It was these three little boxes, and we were like, 'Why are there 3 boxes and they’re numbered?' We looked everywhere through that storage locker to find box number 1," Drews said.
Drews wants to find the previous owner, so she's been looking for clues, searching through all the boxes. She's discovered some pictures, and even the name of the storage unit's previous owner.
"Brittany Harewell I believe is her name," Drews said.
Drews hopes someone will come forward on Grannie’s behalf, so someone can give her a proper sendoff. If not, she plans to do it herself.
"I hope if someone finds my ashes in a storage locker someday they don’t throw me in a dumpster," Drews said.
Drews is moving in a few weeks and would love to connect with the previous owner or a family member. If you're connected to the family, email her at gerridrews@yahoo.com.
