Child's Cremated Remains Found in Makeshift Grave in Gloucester Twp.

The Camden County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the discovery of human remains in a makeshift grave in Gloucester Township's Lakeland section. 

Based on the items left at the grave site, investigators believe the remains are those of a child, possibly an infant, the prosecutor's office said.

The "well-tended" grave was discovered last Friday by people walking in a wooded area nearby Camden County's so-called potter's field and overlooking the Gloucester Township Hockey Alliance's rinks at Marge Martin Sports Complex at Lakeland, authorities announced Thursday afternoon.

Investigators exhumed the remains and found a cardboard box, which contained a velvet bag with a drawstring that held a ziplock bag filled with ashes from cremated remains.

The ashes were labeled with a female's name, but investigators have not been able to find a death certificate for a person by that name or locate a crematorium that handled anyone by that name, according to the prosecutor's office.

Investigators left a note at the burial site asking someone to claim the remains, but no one had contacted the prosecutor's office as of Thursday afternoon, roughly six days after the grave was discovered and reported to Camden County Park Police.

The prosecutor's office is withholding the name found with the ashes in the hopes that the deceased person's family can be located without authorities having to publicize the name.

"We're certainly going to give it some time," prosecutor's office spokesman Jason Laughlin said.

Authorities are hopeful media coverage will bring forward someone who is aware of the grave and knows whose ashes it contained. It will be at least a week before authorities begin discussing whether the name should be released to media, Laughlin said.

The remains appear to have been properly cremated and handled. At this time, there is nothing to indicate it was a suspicious death.

The grave is marked with a small cross, a stuffed animal and a statue of a kneeling cherub. A mat and a bouquet of fresh flowers were also observed there Thursday afternoon.

The county owns the property where the ashes were found. It includes potter's field, where indigent and unidentified people are buried. The property also includes a 1974 monument from the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders recognizing military veterans buried there.

Investigators are asking for the person who tended the grave to provide a death certificate and the name of the crematorium used to confirm that no foul play was involved in the death. With that information this office would be able to release the remains.

Anyone with information about the grave is urged to contact Camden County Prosecutor’s Office Investigator Paul Audino at 856-225-8449.

The prosecutor's office indicated its Victim Witness Unit will provide assistance in finding a proper burial site for the remains.