Daughter sues funeral home after mom buried in another woman’s clothes and in WRONG CEMETERY
MONMOUTH COUNTY, NEW JERSEY: A woman is suing a Jewish funeral home after they buried her mother in the wrong cemetery. And, if that was not enough, the funeral home called Bloomfield-Cooper Jewish Chapels located in Ocean Township, New Jersey, buried the woman’s mother next to a complete stranger dressed in another women's clothes.
According to the Daily Mail, the woman, identified as Robin Kay Lord, discovered the mishap during the service on Oct. 5, 2020. Mourners were horrified and a woman in her 90s nearly fainted. The deceased was identified as Janet Kay, who died Oct. 3, 2020, at age 82 after a long illness. According to Jewish traditions, the funeral usually takes place the day after the death.
READ MORE
Widow sues NY funeral home over BRAWL WITH IN-LAWS at husband's memorial service
'That's not my mum': Funeral home’s SHOCKING mix-up leaves family devastated
‘I want them to be accountable’
Robin Kay Lord, who is a criminal defense attorney, told the Daily Mail, “I want them to be accountable so another family doesn't have to go through this. She added, “I remember specifically telling them to make sure that she is wearing the clothes I gave them because if we opened the coffin and she was wearing someone else's clothes then it would be a complete nightmare.”
The employee at the funeral home “reassured” her that they would treat her mother with dignity and that the clothes would be placed on her after the traditional 'tahara' [an ancient Jewish ritual of washing the body of a deceased person before they are buried]. Lord revealed that she expected the funeral home to follow the custom but instead they told her they would not be able to bury her mother until two days later.
‘Told them to 'cut the s**t and to tell me where my mother is’
On October 5, 2020, Lord’s mother’s body did not arrive as her family and friends waited for the service to begin. She pointed out that the mourners and the Rabbi waited at the cemetery for the coffin for nearly a half hour. She then called the funeral home. “They were stuttering and stammering”, recalled Lord, “I told them to cut the s**t and to tell me where my mother is.”
Lord further said that she was on FaceTime with the funeral home when she saw a strange woman in a coffin wearing her mother's purple suit, the long gold chain, and her mother's wedding band. She lost her cool saying, "I was screaming, 'What did you do to her? Where is my mother?’”. She continued, “Then they told me they had no idea where she was.” Lord revealed that the service then took place without her mother’s body. She later got to know that the body got buried in a different Jewish cemetery in North Jersey in a grave that was next to a complete stranger.
Lord was left shocked when she got to know she was also dressed in another woman’s clothes with someone else's wedding ring. The body of her mother got switched with another woman as they died on the same day. Speaking on the same, Lord asserted, “They did the washing together and that is when their bodies were switched” adding, “'Mind-boggling, just inconceivable.” She further explained, “My mother's body was not properly handled.”
Lord told DailyMail that the funeral home had lied to her telling her that her mother could not be buried on October 4th the day after her death. But, on October 4, she was buried in the wrong grave and at the wrong cemetery. In order to correct the bungled situation, Kay's body had to be exhumed and her daughter had to ID her decomposing body.” It was on October 8 when the family held a private ceremony. Lord's mother was placed in a mausoleum at a cometary in Marlboro, New Jersey, which was now her final resting place.