Every time they hear a car door slam, every time the phone rings, they jump. She was supposed to be there by noon on Saturday. Now it’s Wednesday and no one seems to know where she is.

Her memorial service is today

She was cremated afterward. Her remains were picked up by a postal carrier, transported to Columbus and signed out for delivery to her Far East Side home, where her husband lives. The money-back, Priority Mail Express 1-Day guarantee said her ashes would arrive at noon on Saturday.

“I was up at 5 o’clock in the morning, just waiting,” Norman Kirkendall said.

The package never showed.

U.S. Postal Service spokesman David Van Allen said there’s a “vigilant search” under way to find out what happened to it.

Her memorial service is today in Canal Winchester, and family has gathered from around the country to say their goodbyes. Norman said they’ll still have the service, but no one is giving up on pressuring the post office to find Barbara’s ashes.

Columbus man plans wife’s funeral while Postal Service searches for lost remains