The ad was simple enough: “Oak coffin on stand.”

And anyone interested in purchasing an oak coffin on a stand likely clicked on the ad running in the local antique section of a classified advertisement website.

What was not advertised in the headline is what the coffin contained, a full set of skeletal remains.

Dave Burgstrum of Council Bluffs posted the ad. Burgstrum said the coffin was used in a ritual conducted by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal organization that has a long history in Council Bluffs.

The organization was chartered in Council Bluffs in 1852 and Gen. Grenville Dodge was a member, but Burgstrum – who is a fifth-generation Odd Fellow – said the membership dwindled in the last two decades.

In fact, there are only three living members in the organization, Burgstrum, his wife, Linda, and his brother, Dan.

http://www.southwestiowanews.com/council_bluffs/news/local_news/ad-posting-of-coffin-skeletal-remains-draw-attention/article_f506279d-4c23-5fdd-ac4d-f5a6046df86d.html