Treasure hunter finds heartbreaking note buried in the sand on the beach: ‘Profoundly sad’

A metal detectorist thought they’d uncovered a unique trinket on an Oregon beach, only to realize that it was actually someone’s cremated remains.

The devastated metal detectorist detailed the “sad but interesting find” in a post currently jerking tears on Reddit.

According to the heart-rending post, the unnamed beachcomber was exploring the Oregon coastline when their scanner detected something buried beneath the sand.

“I found this buried 6 inches down,” they recalled.

Curious, the detectorist dug down and pulled out a jar with a note and a baggie inside, as seen in accompanying photos.

Upon spotting the “piece of paper,” the treasure hunter initially thought it was related to geocaching, a popular pastime where treasure hunters use GPS-enabled devices to track down a container or marker at a certain location.

However, they quickly realized that wasn’t the case after reading the note, which revealed that the other contents were the ashes of a young man who passed away over a decade ago.

The note, written by the deceased fellow’s mother, read: “This is the ashes of my son Steven Genberg. If found, please be respectful & put them back. Thank you. A grieving mother.”

The detectorist respected the bereaved parent’s wishes.

“Yes I did put them back,” wrote the Redditor, who deduced from the sparse amount of ashes that she’d placed other makeshift urns at the deceased’s “favorite” places to honor his memory.

The Redditariat was devastated over the discovery.

“This is profoundly sad,” said one commenter, while another wrote, “Losing a child is literally the worst experience in human existence.”

Others even shared alleged articles identifying the deceased as Steven Genberg, 20, who had reportedly died in a collision with a police cruiser in British Colombia. He was reportedly expecting a child with his girlfriend at the time.

Others wondered how the decedent’s remains didn’t get swept out to sea.

“Serious question, how’d they last so long on the beach?” inquired one Redditor. “Or did they recently put it there hoping it would get washed out to sea?”

The original poster responded: “The lid was painted metal with a plastic liner on the threads so it was easy to open with no corrosion. I’m guessing the mother didn’t think about us when she chose that container but then again she did leave a note.”

“Based on the location I’d be surprised if I wasn’t the first person to dig this up,” they added.