How do i track down the remains of my dead mother?

Question

I never knew my mother really, and she died just over 10 years ago. She didn't keep in contact with any family or anything like that; she was a mystery to all of us.

Her "Social Security Death Index" death certificate says she died in San Francisco (California, USA) in April 1998. I got her social security number, last address, cause of death, etc. But there were no mentions of where/if she was buried/cremated, no list of "known associates," and like i said, she didn't keep in touch with family.

I'm wondering how I'd go about finding information on what was done with her remains? How do I find out if she was cremated or buried, and where? And if she was cremated, are the ashes still being held somewhere?

Please help. It would mean a lot to me, to find out what happened to her.

Answer 1

Her death certificate would be the place to start. It will tell you what she died of and what they did with the remains. If they were given to a funeral home, and the home is still in business, you are onto your next step.

The US Gen Web site for the County of SF says the Department of Public Health has those. Both the GenWeb site and the DPH site are graphics-heavy and load slow.

http://www.sfdph.org/dph/comupg/records/...

finally loaded. It looks like they are still using frames. It has what you need to order the certificate.

Answer 2

You could try by searching on this site:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi

good luck

You could try

1. contacting city of San Francisco here: http://www.sfgov.org/site/mainpages_form... (i.e. medical examiners office. they might be able to tell you what happens to remains in cases where there are no relatives). or

2. lookup the last known address (for example on the SFO Property Records site  https://services.sfgov.org/ptx/intro.asp or trulia.com ) and see if you can locate owner of property. He might know what happened.

3. Locate the Police Precinct for the last known address and give them a call. they might be able to look up more information in their records. (Most Police precincts have a non-911 number listed on their website)