A New Jersey family mourning the loss of a loved one got a disturbing surprise when they went to pay their last respects - and now they are looking to the courts to help them seek justice.
When Addison Jenkins died on February 11, 2023, at age 81, his family worked with Boyd Funeral Services to plan a viewing of his body on February 18, including bringing one of his suits and some of his personal items to the funeral home for his services.
But when the Jenkins family arrived on February 17 to view what they thought would be Addison’s body, they were shocked to see someone else in his casket wearing his clothes.
Although the funeral director shared pictures with the family to prove the body in the casket was Addison’s, his loved ones insisted there was a mixup, noting that some of Addison’s distinct features – including cauliflower ear and a foot infection – were missing from the body they saw lying in the casket.
The family filed a complaint in New Jersey Superior Court on September 5 accusing Boyd Funeral Home of negligence in the handling of human remains and infliction of emotional distress. They’re hoping for a trial by jury and damages for the distress the situation caused.
“What happened to the Jenkins family and their late loved one, Addison Jenkins, is disturbing and reprehensible. 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,” said an attorney representing the Jenkins family in an October 22 statement to PEOPLE.