Story Archive

Oculus Sinister

Employees at an eyeglasses store at a mall in Sarasota, Fla., called police after a man walked around the store scattering powder, then left. A hazardous materials team responded and the mall was closed for two hours, and no one was allowed to enter — or leave. Using surveillance video, the man was identified as Thomas Morin, 66. “I was just scattering ashes,” he explained. His fiancée was an optician at the store, and died from cancer; the powder was her cremated remains. Spreading her ashes at the store, and other spots around town, was “a last request,” he said. Police decided not to press any criminal charges, and instead offered Morin grief counseling. (RC/Sarasota Herald-Tribune) ...Spend eternity at work in the mall? Sounds like a modern vision of hell.