A grief-stricken relative was left horrified after she went to bid farewell to her elderly uncle – only to discover another man wearing the suit she had chosen for him lying inside the casket.
To add insult to injury, traumatised niece Amentha Hunt then claimed funeral home workers asked for ‘proof’ the wrong body was lying inside the coffin.
The unfortunate error has led the family of Otis Adkinson, 80, to launch a lawsuit against Harrison-Ross Mortuary, in Los Angeles, California.
Speaking to KCAL News, Ms Hunt, from Compton, said the incident had left her family traumatised.
‘It shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t make arrangements there to see the wrong body.
‘It was a guy laying there in my uncle’s suit, but it wasn’t my uncle.’
She immediately approached an employee at the mortuary to ask what had happened, only to then be told: ‘That’s your uncle.’
When she continued to deny that was her relative, she then pulled out a photograph of Mr Adkinson, at which point the employee agreed the wrong body had been placed into the coffin.
Amentha Hunt was left horrified after she went to bid farewell to her elderly uncle – only to discover another man wearing the suit she had chosen for him lying inside the casket
To add insult to injury, traumatised niece Amentha Hun (left), who was mourning her uncle Otis Adkinson (right) claimed funeral home workers asked for ‘proof’ the wrong body was lying inside the coffin
The unfortunate error has led the family of Otis Adkinson, 80, to launch a lawsuit against Harrison-Ross Mortuary, in Los Angeles, California
It took a further three hours for the mortuary to fix the error so that her uncle could finally be laid to rest, but Ms Hunt said she has been left distressing at the sight of seeing her relative in a suit picked out by herself and her aunt.
‘It’s hurt. I still think about it. That’s something that’s never going to go away, to view the wrong corpse. I still can see that guy.’
Elvis Tran, an lawyer representing Hunt, described the mortuary’s actions as outrageous.
He said: ‘For them to come in and see the wrong corpse and for the mortuary to deny that it’s the wrong corpse and then need proof that it’s in fact the right person.
‘We think it’s just a basic standard of care that they messed up on and that they really need to improve their ways, so they don’t do this to another family.’
Harrison-Ross Mortuary denied the allegations against them and said they are preparing to file a cease-and-desist letter against Ms Hunt.
Mr Adkison was born on November 2, 1944, in Memphis, Tennessee, as the second of five children, according to an obituary posted online.
He was married to his wife, Willie Mae, for 56 years until his death and spent 29 years working for Schaefer Ambulance Service as an EMT.
