Seattle Mortuary Cremates Man, Puts Wrong Body in Casket for Memorial Service!

A Seattle-area family is suing a funeral home over not only mistakenly cremating a man against his families wishes, but putting the "wrong" body in the casket at the funeral!

This shocking story came about when the family of the late Jerry Moon opened his casket at his funeral - only to find another man in his place!   Moon, according to Seattle TV station KOMO, had paid just over $4,600 for a funeral-burial service package a number of years ago, and stipulated (along with his family) he did NOT wish to be cremated.

Brown Mortuary Services gave his family a bill for over $8,000 after Moon died October 13 of 2013.  Moon died at a Seattle-area hospice, and the Dahl-McVicker Funeral home was responsible for transporting his body to the Brown Mortuary.

However, according to the lawsuit filed this week in King County court, Dahl-McVicker placed the wrong identification tag on his body.

The family was in the shock of their life on October 21st, when the casket was opened at Moon's memorial service. The head and face of the body inside was covered with a plastic bag, and the man was a 97-year old fellow with a full head of hair.  Moon was a much younger-looking 72, and was bald!

The lawsuit said Brown Mortuary tried to tell the family initially it was Moon, but then admitted he was cremated on October 17th. The mortuary later sent a $92.72 refund check to Moon's widow.  The suit alleges the facility acted "fraudulently and with malice in it's handling of Jerry Moon's body," and conspired to cover up the fact that he was cremated by mistake.

According to KOMO-TV,  messages left with a media representative of Brown Mortuary have gone unanswered. The company is part of a Texas-based firm Service Corporation International.

The family is seeking unspecified damages for emotional distress as a result of the mistakes made by the company. I would say so...seeing that when the coffin is opened would be THE shock of one's life!