A family looking to pay their final respects to a loved one says they arrived to find that someone else had already been buried in her grave at a Kendall cemetery.
Leodan Delgado said the burial for his 93-year-old grandmother, who died on June 23, was scheduled for July 2 at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn South cemetery.
Delgado got there at 2 p.m. to find that the plot was already occupied.
“We discovered that another person has been buried in my grandmother's space, and we are very offended,” he said. “We feel very bad because right now, we have nowhere to bury her.”
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He said the plot was already paid for and that family members went to the funeral home days before to make arrangements.
Delgado said the mix-up happened around 1 p.m.
“They've told us it was a mistake,” Delgado said. "It's unbelievable."
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According to the family, the funeral home told them they would have to wait until they dug out the body of the person who was placed in her grave by mistake. After that, she would be buried in her designated plot.
NBC 6’s cameras were rolling when the funeral home used an excavator to remove the coffin that was misplaced and buried it somewhere else.
Mario Marquez is the son of the deceased woman. He said the funeral home told him that the family of the person who was removed was notified, but he remains skeptical.
“Someone from the office told us they had informed his family, but they said they wouldn't return [to check out the situation],” Marquez said. “I doubt that.”
The family said they had to wait for hours to say their final goodbyes, adding more pain to their grief.
“Having to wait three hours for them to bury my mom seems like a lack of respect, ethics and education, everything” Marquez said.
Caballero Rivero Woodlawn South cemetery has not yet responded to a request for comment.
