A former “Storage Wars” contestant made a bone-chilling discovery inside an abandoned Harlem storage locker he bought at auction — dozens of urns and other containers filled with cremated human remains.
Steve Monetti, 41, found the ghastly trove of ashes Monday, two days after dropping $550 for the contents of the forgotten unit at Harlem Self-Storage, on West 141st Street.
The 31 containers were packed inside several cabinets and cardboard boxes. Some were stored inside thick stone urns embossed ornate engraving. Others lie in polished brass urns or common metal boxes.
Each bore the name of the deceased and the date of cremation.
“I was very surprised,” Monetti, of North Bergen, NJ, told The Post. “I’ve found one or two urns like this in the past, but never anything of this magnitude.
“It was very eerie. My body shook and I said, ‘This can’t be!’ When I saw the paperwork, I was stunned and couldn’t eat.”
The only thing crazier than the discovery of the ashes was the realization of who left them there — a former NYPD detective who owned a funeral home.
Warren M. Blake, who died in 2007 at age 83, had operated M. Marshall Blake Funeral Parlor in Hamilton Heights with his wife Marguerite Marshall.
In another weird twist, the funeral parlor’s building was once owned by Anthony Bailey, the former partner of circus legend P.T. Barnum.
The remains in the storage locker had been shipped to the couple’s funeral home from crematoriums, but were never claimed by families, records show.
Reginald Dawson, 42, a manager at the storage facility, said the locker’s $259-a-month rent had been paid by Blake’s niece, Eudora Street, until she recently fell behind.
About half a dozen cops from the 32 Precinct showed up at the storage site late Tuesday afternoon to inspect the remains.
After consulting with the Medical Examiner’s office they determined no crime had occurred and left the remains with Monetti, who has appeared on the A&E reality show “Storage Wars” about bidding battles over abandoned lockers.
He has no idea what to do with the ashes.
“I was hopeful that these remains might find a home with loving relatives,” he said. “However, right now, everything remains up in the air and I’m not sure what my next step is.”