Family files suit against cemetery caretakers for misplaced remains

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A devastated family is filing a lawsuit against a cemetery care-taking company after the remains of a loved one were not found in his grave site.

Service Corporation International Funeral Services of Florida informed the Guerra family a few weeks ago that they could not find the remains of their father/grandfather, Miguel Toledo, who passed away 17 years ago.

The family was in the process of burying their mother/grandmother, Ondina Toledo, with her husband. "When they opened my grandfather's grave, there was nothing there, no coffin, no remains. Nothing," said Raciel Guerra. "She told my mom that, 'Well, you have to look at it on the bright side because our company had the choice of not telling you."

When reporters confronted SCI, they released the following written statement: "The burial of Mr. Toledo occurred in 1990, prior to SCI's ownership of the cemetery. When we were preparing Mrs. Toledo's burial, we realized there was a mistake and immediately contacted the family. We believe Mr. Toledo is buried nearby."

In the past, SCI has had problems, and the State of Florida has fined them for misplacing bodies and desecrating graves at Menorah Gardens Cemeteries in Broward and Palm Beach Counties. "They have a long history of having problems at their cemeteries, losing remains, misplacing remains, having non-related bodies and body parts buried with one another," said Guerra's lawyer, Stewart Greenberg. "This is not their first experience, unfortunately."

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