MARYSVILLE — The owners of the Marysville Police Department’s “mystery urn” recovered the remains of their loved one May 11.

Harry was the family dog of Seattle’s Sam and Katie Barloon, who had him cremated after he died of cancer in March of last year.

The Barloons kept his remains in their van because it was his favorite place, according to Katie Barloon. When the van was stolen over last year’s Fourth of July weekend, it only took her a few seconds after she saw that it was gone to realize that Harry was gone too.

“I knew the van would be recovered a few days later, so aside from the hassle of finding ways to transport our three kids, all I cared about was getting the urn back,” said Barloon, who contacted KIRO after the theft last year. “I went a little bit crazy.”

The van was found less than a week later, less than a mile up the street. Although the stereo, some rollerblades and Barloon’s ID had been removed, the thieves had left behind her sunglasses and the $50 she kept in the sun visor for emergency purposes. Still, Harry’s remains were nowhere to be found.

Barloon had no idea that Harry’s urn had been found until a friend of hers, who lives in Everett, told her about a story she’d seen in the local news May 4 about an unidentified urn.

“At first, I was kind of discouraged, because when I contacted the police, they told me that other people had inquired about the urn, so I thought the chances were slim that it was Harry,” Barloon said. “But then, I learned that the urn was found last July, before it was turned over to the police this April. The person who found it might have thought they were disturbing someone’s resting place. Since I knew that the person who’d stolen my van lived up in Marysville, I was sure it was Harry.”

According to Marysville Police Lt. Darin Rasmussen, Barloon was able to describe how the bag of ashes had been placed in the urn. Marysville Police informed Barloon that the urn contained Harry’s remains May 10 and turned it over to her the following day.

“We’re just happy to get people their property back,” Rasmussen said. “Especially when it’s a beloved member of the family, it feels really good.”

Barloon expressed frustration at the fact that she’d almost been denied the opportunity to give Harry a proper burial, but she’s also grateful to the attention that his story has received.

“We’ve been getting calls from as far away as Spokane,” Barloon said. “Knowing that Harry is in so many people’s hearts makes us feel like he’s still with us.”

Harry’s urn will be placed on the mantel until the Barloons’ other dog, who’s 14 years old, passes away, at which point Barloon plans to bury both dogs together.