However, tragedy struck for a particular family as they delved into a box of cherished heirlooms, discovering an unexpected peril in the form of an old grenade nestled among their late grandfather's possessions.
From NPR:
An Indiana man is dead after a grenade discovered in a grandfather's belongings detonated.
According to a post from the Lake County Sheriff's Department, officers responded to a call of an explosion before 6:30 p.m. Saturday night in the community of Lakes of the Four Seasons.
The family was looking through their grandfather's belongings when they found the handheld explosive device and it went off.
"Someone reportedly pulled the pin on the device and it detonated," Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said in a statement.
Responders found an adult male unresponsive at the scene, and he was later declared dead.
The man's two children — a 14-year-old boy and an 18-year-old woman — were wounded by shrapnel and transported to a nearby hospital.
The investigation is ongoing.
According to the FBI, some families have unexpectedly found explosive devices in the belongings of their parents or grandparents who were military veterans. Some veterans brought back explosives as souvenirs from World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War.
This heartbreaking incident raises the question of why anyone would dare to pull the pin on the grenade.
Although the identity of the individual responsible remains unconfirmed, speculations point towards the youngest child as the likely culprit.
Fortunately, both of the deceased man's children managed to survive this catastrophe, sparing them from the same tragic fate.
