PINE BLUFFS, Wyo. — If statues could only talk a nearly yearlong mystery in this most eastern of Wyoming town that abuts the border with Nebraska might be solved.

It was a little less than a year ago when a town maintenance worker digging a grave found in the Pine Bluffs Cemetery, at the foot of a statue of Jesus, a dark green box containing the cremains of James William Hodge and an envelope bearing the address of the Brooks & White Funeral Home in Roxboro, N.C.

No one saw the bearer of the box enter the cemetery, and that is the real mystery.

Whomever was carrying Hodge's cremains may have been attracted to the statue standing prominently on the east side of the cemetery.

If the person merely wanted to deposit the box in a significant spot like the Our Lady of Peace Shrine, he or she might have done so, but the cemetery is far enough from Interstate 80 that Mr. Hodge may have had a bit of peace.

Attempts by city officials to find more information resulted in the funeral home folks coming up with Hodge's wife's address in Long Island, N.Y.

A quick check of Google … found that Mary Pulliam Hodge is buried in the Burton-Cates Cemetery outside of Roxboro. A William Hodge is also listed in an adjacent grave.

According to the funeral survey prepared by Ken and Becky Dalton, who have Flat River Grave Finders, a local genealogy group, Mary Pulliam Hodge was born Sept. 9, 1928 and died Jan. 26, 1982.

William Hodge's birth and death dates on a temporary marker were 1927 to 1982.

According to the information from Brooks & White Funeral Home on the front of the envelope taped to the cremains box, [James] William was born July 3, 1926 and died on June 16, 1980. He was apparently cremated on June 20, 1980.

Dema Gilbert, Pine Bluff's town clerk for 25 years, said the community would love to find out how Hodge's remains found their way to the town.

"I guess we’re kind of at a dead end," said Gilbert, who will be retiring Jan. 4 after 25 years, with tongue stuck firmly in her cheek. "Actually, it's kind of sad that maybe somewhere he has family that might want his ashes back."

Town council member Bill Cushing said officials did about as much as they could legally to find out more information about Hodge.

"The coroner's office in Cheyenne suggested that we take the cremains and scatter them," he said.

Folks wonder if Hodge was a truck driver with a fondness for Pine Bluffs or that maybe he had a relative in the area, but few leads have surfaced in the last 11 months.

Attempts to reach the Daltons … were unsuccessful, but officials with the Museum of History in Roxboro and at the Roxboro Chamber of Commerce said there were several families of Hodges living in their area