A family has shared their distress and shock after discovering a stranger’s body in their loved one’s casket, leading to one relative suffering a heart attack. Joey Espinosa’s family had gathered at a funeral home for his service, but his aunt Laura Levario became alarmed upon noticing a different casket than the one they had selected. It became evident that the body inside did not belong to Joey. Laura recounted the ordeal, mentioning that the incident caused her husband to have a heart attack due to the stress, requiring him to be on life support for three days.
Following the unsettling discovery, the family was relocated to another room at the Forest Lawn Covina Hills funeral home in California, where yet another incorrect casket was present. It took over an hour for staff to guide them to the correct room for mourning. Forest Lawn attributed the mix-up to a “scheduling error” and offered the family $200 as an apology, which fell short of covering the nearly $20,000 funeral expenses. Consequently, the Espinosa family is pursuing legal action against the mortuary for emotional distress and negligence.
The family’s attorney expressed disappointment, stating that instead of grieving their loss, they were forced to search for the correct body. The attorney emphasized the importance of proper procedures, especially when significant amounts of money are involved. This incident follows a similar one where two sisters discovered a stranger wearing their mother’s clothes in a coffin before her funeral.
The daughters, Jennetta Archer and Jennifer Taylor, were initially told no mistake had occurred, but upon further investigation, their mother’s body was found in the embalming room. They highlighted the lack of resemblance between their mother and the person in the casket, emphasizing the size disparity. The mix-up was eventually acknowledged by Hunter’s Funeral Home in North Carolina, and the correct bodies were swapped to proceed with the service.
