A Detroit funeral home has launched an internal review after the family of 61-year-old Kimberly Moore said they were shown another woman’s body at her viewing and then told Moore had been cremated by mistake.
The incident took place at Hutchinson Funeral Home on East 7 Mile Road, where police were called as relatives demanded answers on Friday, 18 September. Moore’s funeral had been due to take place the following day.
Relatives said they immediately realised something was wrong when they saw the woman in the casket dressed in Moore’s clothes, with her wig and make-up. Moore’s daughter, Bianca Robinson, said she noticed that a distinguishing mark on her mother’s toe was missing when mortuary staff opened the body bag.
Robinson said a member of staff then suggested Moore might have been cremated after two women arrived at the funeral home at around the same time. The family was also told that a toe tag may have become wet and fallen off, allowing the bodies to be mixed up.
“I said, ‘This is not my momma sir,’ and he said, ‘I’m so sorry,’” Robinson told local television station WXYZ. She said the family had planned to hold the cremation only after relatives had been given the opportunity to see Moore.
“We don’t have a viewing. What do we have? We don’t even have her ashes!” she said.
Another relative said the family had been shown the body in the casket while being told conflicting information about where Moore was. The family is now trying to identify and contact the relatives of the woman whose body was presented to them.
Funeral home launches internal review
Hutchinson Funeral Home said it was “heartbroken and deeply sorry” for what Moore’s family had experienced and confirmed that it had begun an internal investigation into the circumstances.
“We are aware of the family’s concerns and we will continue to communicate with them honestly and respectfully,” the funeral home said. It asked for the family’s privacy to be respected while the review was under way.
Joseph Hutchison Jr, the funeral home’s vice-president of operations, told WXYZ that the matter was being investigated but declined to answer further questions. Funeral home spokesman Mario Morrow said the family would be “made whole” if the business was found to be at fault.
Mario Morrow, who is also acting as a spokesman for the family, said relatives wanted a clear explanation and a way to reach a conclusion that would allow them to grieve properly.
“We know that there was an issue. We know there’s a problem, and we want to make it whole,” he said. “We want to make the family feel comfortable with their loved one and make sure that we have some conclusion to this.”
Detroit police are investigating the incident. No charges or formal findings have been announced.
The Moore family is continuing to decide how to proceed with the funeral arrangements after the alleged cremation mix-up.
