Family receives wrong person’s ashes after mix-up at New Mexico funeral home
A funeral home gave the wrong ashes to a grieving family in New Mexico.
The family didn’t discover the error until it was too late.
Carmen Matilda Torres, 74, died on Sept. 23 in Las Vegas, New Mexico, her daughter-in-law Amy Salazar told McClatchy News.
Days later, her family held a viewing to honor their loved one’s passing. Then Rogers Mortuary sent her body for cremation at the Berardinelli Family Funeral Service in Santa Fe, Salazar said.
Torres’ daughter picked up her remains in a black box on Oct. 1 from Rogers Mortuary.
The family planned to put her ashes in an urn for her rosary then bury her.
But they realized the coin number on their loved one’s ashes didn’t match the records, Salazar said.
Three days after the family picked up the ashes, Berardinelli Family Funeral Service called Salazar and told her there was a mix-up.
Another family had Torres’ ashes and scattered them.
“This is the hardest thing we’ve ever gone through,” Salazar said.
Berardinelli Family Funeral Service did not immediately respond to McClatchy’s request for comment. Rogers Mortuary declined to comment.
Without her remains, the family was unable to follow through with their planned burial.
But the other family tried to gather the ashes they scattered and returned them in a bag back to the family, Salazar said.
“Inside the ashes there was dirt, bugs, weeds, pine needles,” Salazar said, adding that her family later discovered a live worm in the bag filled with about two cups of ashes.
For now, Torres’ family is holding off on burying the ashes.
“This has impacted our family badly. We can’t sleep, we can’t eat, we’re stuck in limbo,” Salazar said. “We feel as if we failed my mother-in-law since we cannot fulfill her wishes.”
The family also urges others to be cautious when picking up their loved one’s ashes.
“We want to let people know to check their coins. We don’t want anyone else to feel this indescribable pain we’re experiencing,” Salazar said.
This story was originally published October 8, 2021 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Family receives wrong person’s ashes after mix-up at New Mexico funeral home."
