Family find wrong dead man wearing loved ones clothes in casket

A New Jersey family have filed a lawsuit against a funeral home in the state after they allege undertakers placed the wrong body in their loved one's clothes.

The horrific error was noticed by the family when they came to pay their last respects and inspected the casket ahead of a public viewing.

Before Addison Jenkins died in February 2023 he had chosen the Boyd Funeral Home of Camden, New Jersey to deal with the funeral and his subsequent cremation.

Jenkins's widow took some of her late husband's clothes to the funeral home in preparation for the funeral service.

But the family claim that days later when relatives came to say their final goodbyes they noticed something unusual in Jenkins' casket. 

'At or around 4pm on February 17th, plaintiffs [the Jenkins family] approached the casket supposedly holding Addison and became immediately distressed and angered when they saw another unrecognizable corpse dressed in Addison's clothes and belongings,' the complaint alleges. 

'The Plaintiffs were shocked, upset, confused and full of tears.' 

At the time, the family claim the funeral director wasn't around to deal with the issue and instead adding insult to injury a lower level employee alleged showed them text message from the director stating that the body was that of Jenkins.

A makeup artist with the funeral home also further assured the family that it was Jenkins' body. 

The family have accused the funeral home of gaslighting and they and the workers 'continued to disagree with each other as to whose body was in the casket.'

The funeral director then sent photos to the family in an effort to demonstrate that it was their loved one - but the family did not agree.

They explained how Jenkins had a cauliflower ear while the other body did not. Also, an infection Jenkins had  on his feet  did not appear to be visible.

Days later, on the actual day of the public viewing, the family asked the funeral director to open the casket once again - only this time, it was Jenkins in the casket. 

'As a result of the above, plaintiffs have become emotional distraught. The Plaintiffs have been denied their right to grieve the death of their late loved one and, further, have been found to endure severe and ongoing emotional distress,' the complaint reads.

The family went further stating how as a result of the alleged 'negligent acts and omissions,' of the Boyd Funeral Home they have 'suffered and continue to suffer severe emotional distress and damages.' 

The funeral home are accused of 'failing to use the accepted degree of professional skill as others in the same profession(s) and communities, constituting negligence and causing the infliction of severe emotional distress on the Plaintfifs.'

The family are now demanding a trial by jury in the case together with compensation for damages.

'What happened to the Jenkins family and their late loved one, Addison Jenkins, is disturbing and reprehensible,' Michael Shaw, an attorney representing the family said in a statement. 

'To twist the knife, once the Jenkins family informed the funeral home of the wrongful conduct, the callous response was to point blame at my clients by persistently telling them that the wrong and unidentified body was their late loved one. Gaslighting a grieving family after displaying the wrong corpse is cruel and ignoble.'