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[video]http://www.fox4kc.com/videobeta/b7d7a388-b19e-4529-a051-87fe3c8e235a/News/Problem-Solvers-Casket-Mix-Up[/video]
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. —
The members of a metro family make a disturbing discovery when they tried to bury their mother. When Mount Washington Cemetery opened one grave, they found inside not just one casket, but two.
For 17 years, Barbara Hufford knew exactly where she would be laid to rest -- next to her husband Steve. Last week, after a 30-year battle with multiple sclerosis, Barbara Hufford's time came.
Shortly after leaving the funeral services on Monday, son Dan Sullivan got an unusual phone call.
"We got a call saying they had a major problem," Sullivan said.
When Mount Washington Cemetery opened his father's grave, they found inside not just one casket, but two.
"There was a casket inside the crypt with my father's casket," Sullivan said. "I'm not angry. It's just disbelief."
It's just more bad news from a cemetery whose former owners are being investigated by the Missouri Attorney General after thousands of dollars in prepaid funeral funds went missing.
But the director of Mount Washington Cemetery says this casket mix-up happened years before those previous owners took over and years before safeguards were put in place to make sure mix ups like this never happen.
Director Cher Thompson called it an unfortunate mistake and one her crew is working quickly to resolve.
"It was so devastating for me, you know," Thompson said. "It's difficult for the family and my grief was for them. We are doing everything we have to do and do what's right."
"They've been very helpful," Sullivan said.
Both caskets were disinterred to determine who's buried inside and Sullivan said his father's body should be easy to identify.
"We buried him in his rainbow suspenders because they were his favorite suspenders."
Sullivan did positively identify his father and his mother was laid to rest on Wednesday afternoon.
As for the other casket, Mount Washington Cemetery says it believes that person was buried in 1997 and said it should be able to track down the identity by going through cemetery records of burials from that year.
INDEPENDENCE, Mo. —
The members of a metro family make a disturbing discovery when they tried to bury their mother. When Mount Washington Cemetery opened one grave, they found inside not just one casket, but two.
For 17 years, Barbara Hufford knew exactly where she would be laid to rest -- next to her husband Steve. Last week, after a 30-year battle with multiple sclerosis, Barbara Hufford's time came.
Shortly after leaving the funeral services on Monday, son Dan Sullivan got an unusual phone call.
"We got a call saying they had a major problem," Sullivan said.
When Mount Washington Cemetery opened his father's grave, they found inside not just one casket, but two.
"There was a casket inside the crypt with my father's casket," Sullivan said. "I'm not angry. It's just disbelief."
It's just more bad news from a cemetery whose former owners are being investigated by the Missouri Attorney General after thousands of dollars in prepaid funeral funds went missing.
But the director of Mount Washington Cemetery says this casket mix-up happened years before those previous owners took over and years before safeguards were put in place to make sure mix ups like this never happen.
Director Cher Thompson called it an unfortunate mistake and one her crew is working quickly to resolve.
"It was so devastating for me, you know," Thompson said. "It's difficult for the family and my grief was for them. We are doing everything we have to do and do what's right."
"They've been very helpful," Sullivan said.
Both caskets were disinterred to determine who's buried inside and Sullivan said his father's body should be easy to identify.
"We buried him in his rainbow suspenders because they were his favorite suspenders."
Sullivan did positively identify his father and his mother was laid to rest on Wednesday afternoon.
As for the other casket, Mount Washington Cemetery says it believes that person was buried in 1997 and said it should be able to track down the identity by going through cemetery records of burials from that year.