After acknowledging it still has a body that should have been cremated last year, the Allegheny County Coroner’s Office said Thursday it wants to analyze the contents of an urn that was supposed to contain the man’s ashes. “Obviously, we need to find out what’s in there,” said Chief Deputy Coroner Joseph Dominick. Nancie Nieradko, of Lakewood, Ohio, still has the urn she once thought contained the cremated remains of her son, Chad Mulvin, 29, who was fatally shot July 2 in Carnegie. It wasn’t until last month that the coroner’s office learned it still had Mulvin’s body. Officials found it in a basement cooler after the district attorney’s office requested Mulvin’s clothing to prepare its case against the man accused of killing him. The clothing was missing. An internal investigation is under way to “look at every step that was taken and every aspect of this case,” Dominick said. “Obviously, there was a breakdown of some kind. We need to find out what happened and take steps to make sure it never happens again.” Officials apparently did not follow procedures implemented in the 1980s outlining the steps needed to identify remains before they are released: A deputy coroner and a funeral home representative must verify the corpse’s identity. The two compare it to a photograph taken of the body when it first arrived at the coroner’s office. If they agree the remains are the same as those depicted in the photo, both sign the back of the photo. Both must verify that paperwork accompanying the remains matches information contained on a wristband on the body. After the coroner’s office completed Mulvin’s autopsy, McCabe Funeral Home in Derry, Westmoreland County, was supposed to pick up his body, handle its cremation and take the remains to McGorray Bros. Co. funeral home in Lakewood, a Cleveland suburb. It remains unclear what the funeral home picked up and incinerated. Mulvin’s father, Nevin Mulvin Sr., of Fredricksburg, Va., has said he believes his son’s urn contains ashes from his clothing. Neither funeral home returned telephone calls. Mulvin’s parents could not be reached for comment yesterday.

---

Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---