An article appeared in the San Antonio Express News last week that highlighted the beginning of the funeral home missing body case.  The case is being heard in Bexar County, Texas and the civil case is being presided on by Judge Norma Gonzalez.  You can read the San Antonio article here.

Here is what we have gathered from the case article.  Julie Mott died in August 2015.  Her remains were picked up by the Beyer & Beitel Mortuary Services — apparently a trade embalming service contracted by the Mission Park Funeral Chapels and Cemeteries.  Mission Park was the company called by the family.

The lawsuit, filed by Ms. Mott’s parents,  is against Mission Park for gross negligence.  According to the complaint, Ms. Mott died on August 8, 2015, and her body was delivered to Mission Park Chapel on August 10 by Beyer & Beitel.  Again, according to the complaint, when her casket was eventually opened a couple of days later, there was no body inside.  Ms. Mott’s remains have never been found.

Funeral Director Daily take:  This will be an interesting case to follow.  As a funeral home owner, this would be a nightmare, both financially and public relations wise.  After reading the article, it is apparent that both the trade service and the funeral home are potential targets.

So many things come to mind here.  Among the things, as a funeral home owner, that I would make sure of after reading this article would be that my liability insurance is up to date, that we have some form of checking and recording when bodies are brought to us by a third party (and that means looking in the casket), and we regularly make checks on any third parties that handle some of our work.

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