Man suffers heart attack at funeral after finding STRANGER in loved one's coffin
The family of Joey Espinosa was left horrified after they discovered a stranger's corpse inside his casket - with the incdent causing one relative to have a heart attack
A family has shared their heartbreak and horror after discovering a stranger's body in their loved one's casket, a shock that caused one relative to suffer a heart attack.
The relatives of Joey Espinosa had gathered at a funeral home for his service to bid their final farewells. However, Espinosa's aunt, Laura Levario, noticed something was terribly wrong when she saw a casket she didn't recall selecting.
To her horror, she realized the person inside the casket wasn't Joey. Laura told KSLA: "I noticed the body wasn't my nephew's and the coffin we picked out wasn't [there]." She revealed that the shocking incident led to her husband having a heart attack due to the intense stress, and he woke up three days later after being put on life support.
In the aftermath, Laura said her family was taken to another room at the Forest Lawn Covina Hills funeral home in California, US, which also contained an incorrect casket, reports the Mirror.
She alleged it took staff over an hour to guide them to the correct room where they could finally begin mourning. "They didn't know where my nephew's body was," Laura said, describing the ordeal as the "worst experience we've ever had".
Forest Lawn labeled the mistake a "scheduling error" and offered the grieving family $200 as an apology, according to The Sun.
However, the funeral expenses nearly reached a staggering $20,000, barely covered by the insurance. The Espinosa family is now reportedly taking legal action against the California mortuary for emotional distress and negligence.
Their lawyer told CBS News: "Instead of mourning their loved one, they are searching for a body. When you're spending that much money on a place like Forest Lawn, you would think they would do things properly."
In another shocking incident, two sisters who were paying their final respects to their mother before her funeral were horrified to find a stranger dressed in her clothes lying in the coffin.
Despite their initial shock, the funeral home workers insisted that no mistake had been made. However, upon checking the embalming room, they found the body of their beloved mother, Mary Archer.
The daughters, Jennetta Archer and Jennifer Taylor, stated that there was no resemblance between their mother and the woman who was in the casket.
A stunned Jennetta said: "There's no similarity in the person. Their size was way off – when the first person had the clothing on, she was swimming in the clothing because she was so small compared to my mother."
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It was only after their mother's body was discovered still in the embalming room that the staff at Hunter's Funeral Home in Ahoskie, North Carolina admitted there was a problem.
The embalmer claimed that the home had attempted to contact the family to discuss the issue, but the sisters said they never received a call from the home.
The bodies were ultimately exchanged, allowing the service to proceed as scheduled.