A family has shared their distress and shock after discovering a stranger’s body inside their relative’s casket, leading to one family member suffering a heart attack. Joey Espinosa’s family had gathered at a funeral home for his service, only to realize that the casket did not contain Joey. Laura Levario, Joey’s aunt, described the unsettling moment when she noticed the mistake and the wrong casket.
The unexpected turn of events caused Laura’s husband to have a heart attack due to the intense stress. After being on life support, he regained consciousness three days later. The family was then escorted to another room at the Forest Lawn Covina Hills funeral home in California, where they found yet another incorrect casket.
It took the staff over an hour to guide them to the correct room where they could properly mourn. Laura expressed frustration at the ordeal, labeling it as the “worst experience” they had ever faced. The funeral home attributed the mix-up to a “scheduling error” and offered the family $200 as an apology.
However, this amount fell significantly short of the nearly $20,000 total cost of the funeral. As a result, the Espinosa family is pursuing legal action against the California mortuary for emotional distress and negligence. Their attorney criticized the funeral home’s handling of the situation, emphasizing the expectation of proper procedures when spending a significant amount at a reputable establishment like Forest Lawn.
In a similar incident, two sisters were shocked to find a stranger dressed in their mother’s clothes in a coffin during her funeral preparations. Initially dismissed by the funeral home staff, the daughters later discovered their mother’s body still in the embalming room. The mix-up was only acknowledged after the family insisted that a mistake had occurred.
Despite attempts by the funeral home to contact the family about the error, the sisters claimed they never received any communication. Eventually, the bodies were swapped, allowing the funeral service to proceed as planned.