Grieving New Jersey family demands justice for finding unrecognizable body wearing loved one’s clothes at view
A funeral home in Camden, New Jersey is facing allegations of placing the wrong body in a family’s deceased loved one’s clothes.
The family first realized the heartbreaking mistake when they came to inspect the casket ahead of a public viewing.
"At or around 4:00 p.m. on February 17th, Plaintiffs 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," according to a complaint filed on Sept. 5 by the family of Jenkins. "The Plaintiffs were shocked, upset, confused and full of tears."
The family of Jenkins is accusing the funeral home of negligence in the handling of human remains, among other charges.
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Addison Jenkins, who passed away in February 2023, had planned his funeral ahead of time, choosing the Boyd Funeral Home in Camden, New Jersey to handle the services.
In the complaint, the family alleges that the funeral director wasn’t present when they wanted to express their concerns and that a makeup artist from the funeral home allegedly reassured them the body was of Jenkins.
The complaint, however, says the family and funeral home employees "continued to disagree with each other as to whose body was in the casket."
The Jenkins’ were sent photos by the director to prove that it was in fact their deceased loved one, but specific markings on the body did not match their loved ones. They claim he had a cauliflower ear and a noticeable foot infection, both of which were not present on the body in the casket.
When the family viewed the body again on Feb. 18, they requested the casket be open to observe the body, and they were able to confirm it was indeed Jenkins.
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In a statement shared with PEOPLE on Tuesday, Oct. 22, Michael Shaw, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, wrote: "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."
They are asking for compensation and punitive damages according to the complaint via trial by jury.