After Sheila Sterling died of cancer last September, her family hoped for one last peaceful farewell. What they got instead was a tragic and painful ordeal.
The family had planned for an open casket viewing before the funeral service. However, just before the viewing was to take place, Kimberly Byers, the sister of the deceased, says the Gonzalez Funeral Home and Crematory informed them that there would be no viewing.
Why? Because they had the wrong body.
“I don’t think we could truly express how we feel,” said Kimberly Byers.
“The remains they had were not of our sister. They were of a white male, and they weren’t sure how that occurred,” Byers says. “Everyone was shocked. We actually had a family member who exited the room because they were so upset.”
The only thing that could make this worse is if the funeral home went ahead and cremated — oh, they did.
Sheila Sterling was cremated and her ashes presented to the family (although they have no way to prove whether or not it’s really Sterling).
Understandably, Byers and her family feel as if they didn’t get a chance to say their goodbyes.
“And that’s something we will never have,” Byers said.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/texas-family-suing-after-funeral-home-mix-up/