Appeal after ashes of a Preston girl, who died 46 years ago today, are found in a Southport park

The ashes of a 12-year-old girl from Preston were found hiddien in the undergrowth at Hesketh Park by 34-year-old Emma Lawless last June.

Yvonne Harrison died on February 3 1977 and her body was cremated at Preston Cemetery, but on the anniversary of her death, an appeal to find her family has been launched.

Speaking to BBC North West Tonight, Emma said: "Me and my two daughters come to the park all the time, and I just noticed a wooden box.

"I came back the week after and saw it was still here, so I thought 'I wonder if it's empty or full still?'.

"So I just gently picked it up, and it was really heavy.

"It was a really clean, bright wooden box. It just didn't look right, it stood out."

Once inspected, Emma found an engraving on the casket, revealing the identity of the girl inside and so she reported it to her local council.

Emma added: "Losing a child must be horrendous anyway, and then to lose the ashes again must be heart-breaking if that's the case.”

After the find was reported, Southport Crematorium phoned Preston Cemetry in November 2022 to ask if they had a record for Yvonne.

Armed with the name and date, Preston Cemetery confirmed Yvonne had been cremated at their site, and that a man named James Harrison, who, at the time, lived in the Holme Slack area of Preston with Yvonne, had made the cremation application.

However, James no longer lived at this address and was unable to be contacted, so on the anniversary of her death, the cemetery is now keen to reunite Yvonee’s ashes with her family.

Speaking to the Post, senior cemetery and crematorium technician at Preston, Chris Brown, said: “First and foremost, this is a 12 year old girl we're dealing with, obviously if any set of ashes were found in this manner, we would we probably do the same, but it feels even more important that it's a child, that we at least attempt to get these ashes back to the family because it's part of their family, isn't it?”

“I've been doing this job for nearly 14 years now, and this is the first time that it's ever happened at this crematorium. And the really bizarre thing is that since I've received Yvonne dashes ashes, another set of ashes were found in the hospital at Preston in late November. So what's been brought in today, for lack of a better word, is a lost and found form on our website, so please contact us via that channel or via our cemetery mailbox as well if you do know anything.”

The online form will appear on the website soon, and the email to contact is [email protected]. Anyone who comes forward as a relative will be investigated thoroughly to confirm their link with the deceased.