When Swifts Beach resident Bob Hurley went down to the beach near his house Monday morning, he wasn't expecting to make any strange discoveries, but he did.

"I looked down by the jetty and saw what looked like a strange rock down by the water," said Hurley. "I walked down and turned it on its side, and there it was."

The "it" Hurley referred to was what appears to be some sort of headstone or monumental marker inscribed with the name Patricia D. Arruda, the dates July 23, 1954-Sept. 2, 2004, as well as a picture of a butterfly.

Hurley says he has considered the fact that the stone may have been placed there intentionally, but says that "it just doesn't seem like a place where that kind of thing would be."

Arruda's 2004 obituary reveals that she was a resident of New Bedford and was survived by her son, Manuel, who still resides in New Bedford. Several attempts by Wareham Week to contact Manuel Arruda were unsuccessful.

Records from the Saunders-Dwyer Funeral Home, which handled Arruda's arrangements, state that Manuel took her ashes to Fall River to be scattered in her birthplace.

Still, this information does not explain how a memorial stone ended up in Wareham.

"I was just hoping I'd be able to find whoever's looking for it," said Hurley.

Anyone with information relating to the headstone and/or associated parties is requested to contact the Wareham Week offices at 508-322-7157.