I Got A Call From The Police, They Found My Cats Remains, The Cat I Had Cremated A Year Ago And Have Her Ashes.

Hey Reddit, I’ve never posted before, idk how this works. I’m looking for I’m not sure, legal advice? Maybe just comfort that this is as fucked up as I think it is? Okay here is the story so far

06/17/2026
my family member got a message saying they had found a cats remains and the chip led back to us. We immediately get scared that our cat korren got hit by a car or something, we start searching for him immediately. He comes waltzing in the house a few hours later, we confirm it’s him. We then just assume, okay maybe they found our other cat who disappeared like 6 years ago. We kinda forget about it until…

06/18/2026
The next day I am at work and I get a call from a police officer, saying he’s looking for me to ask some questions, I’m confused until he says it’s about a missing pet. I told him that my cat wasn’t missing but I did find it odd they would give me a call if they found my cats remains after he was hit by a car. He said no that’s not how we found the animal. He proceeded to tell me they found a bunch of animal remains and asked me to go though all the animals I’ve lost and or cremated. I’m immediately more confused, why is he asking about my cremated cats when he said he had found a body? I go through the list and he takes note of their names and breeds. I ask him to tell me any more info from the chip and he says he will call me back, I get a call later from him, he says that the chip was for a female cat who was 13.5 years old. The cat who disappeared was a male so I knew they were not talking about him. The only female cat I have ever had was my cat Tuna. I took her to get put down due to her having cancer and seizures, we chose to get her cremated by the company who they are partnered with (I won’t disclose the location, I want more info before I do so). The officer said he would like to test the remains I have of what I thought was my cat. He wants to call me later this week and arrange that. I want to know can I sue them? The company I payed money to handle my baby with care and respect, I payed for the service of private cremation. I clearly didn’t get that, I’m so so hurt all over again, I feel like I lost her again, it hurts so much, I celebrated dia de Los muertos (day of the dead)with her, she’s in my ofrenda (like a cabinet we keep pictures, and items of passed love ones to honor them and remember them) Am I right to be as upset as I am about this, I want to press charges for what they did, because that’s just so so sick, to just dump her body like that, and it wasn’t just her, the officer said there were many more. I’m not sure of the condition of the bodies because I was at work when he called and he didn’t want to upset me further. I just want the people responsible to have consequences. I don’t want them to do this to anyone else ever again. I will update again (if I can figure out how) when he calls me with more info and after we get her ashes tested.

Location: Texas

Edit For clarification, I do keep my cats indoors, they are only allowed out in a stroller, or their carriers. The cat who "came waltzing back inside" is my moms cat, same with the one who disappeared, she has a dog door and the cats get out, I've tried to tell her to not let them out, when I lived there I had to keep my cat in my room so he wouldn't get out, but I've since moved and he's not allowed out. I personally don't like cats being outdoor cats, it puts them in unnecessary danger and is bad for the environment.
I've tried to talk her into getting rid of the dog door, but that isn't what this post is about.

Edit for more info: the original message about the chip being found was a voice message, they then reached out to me, the officer told me who he was (I won’t say a name for privacy) and asked me this was *said my full name* I said yes and he started asking me questions about any missing pets or pets I’ve put down, I gave him the list. He then asked where I had taken them I told him what city but couldn’t remember exact addresses for some. When I mentioned the city for tuna he asked if it was xyz clinic I said yes and told me the location and I confirmed. He asked me to bring in her ashes later this week to the police department if that was something I was willing to do. I of course agreed, just wanted to clarify for all the comments wondering if it’s a scam. I will say tuna “urn” is more of a box with a latch, which is unusual, at least for all the pet ashes I currently have which are cedar boxes where you have to undo a screw to get to the ashes and are stamped with the company’s logo. Tunas is just a normal looking wooden box with a metal latch to open it, inside is a fabric bag that holds the ashes, I haven’t looked inside the fabric bag, and her name is on a gold metal tag thing.