Funeral Home Sued $60 Million for Burying Wrong Man

Two women were shocked after finding out a funeral home buried a stranger instead of their beloved, late father.

According to People, Stacy Holzman and Megan Zaner have filed a lawsuit against Fletcher Funeral and Cremation Service in South Carolina, accusing them of mistaking another man’s remains for their dad, Clifford Zane.

The sisters allege the funeral home suited up the wrong body in their father’s clothes and buried the stranger instead of their late dad. Fletcher Funeral allegedly sent the remains to Star of David Memorial Chapels in New York, insisting that they belonged to Clifford.

Holzman and Zaner claim they told Star of David Memorial Chapels that they didn’t think the man in the casket was their father, though the funeral home was adamant “throughout the viewing, funeral services and burial,” which included a Jewish religious ceremony, that the body belonged to Clifford.

Holzman and Zaner are seeking $60 million in damages.

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According to WCBS, Holzman first became suspicious when she noticed her father’s mustache was missing. When she brought it up, the funeral director allegedly insisted that shaving “everybody” was normal.

Three weeks after the funeral service, Fletcher Funeral and Cremation Service informed the sisters that there had been a mix-up.

According to the lawsuit, the sisters claim Clifford was not buried in accordance with Jewish tradition, and that the funeral home “abandoned” their dad inside its morgue “without dignity or respect.”

“I just feel so wronged. You trust these people. You don’t know what you’re doing, this doesn’t happen every day. We lose our dad once in our life,” Zaner said, according to WNYW.

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In a statement, Star of David Memorial Chapels of New York said they “took swift and decisive action to contact the family and offer whatever services needed to lessen their grief” after the South Carolina funeral home informed them of the mistake.

“We deeply regret any sorrow experienced by the family for the mistake made by the funeral home in South Carolina,” they said in their statement, adding that “families are under a great deal of stress when they identify their deceased.”

A second funeral for Clifford was held on March 24 in Florida.