Detroit Family Says the Wrong Body Was in Their Mother’s Casket and She May Have Been Cremated by Mistake

A Detroit family says they went to a funeral home to say goodbye to their mother and found another woman’s body in her casket. The children of Kimberly Moore, 61, say staff told them their mother may have been cremated by mistake. Hutchison Funeral Home has apologized and launched an internal review, and Detroit police are investigating, according to FOX 2 Detroit.

Moore’s viewing was scheduled for 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 18, at Hutchison Funeral Home on East Seven Mile Road on Detroit’s east side, according to WDIV. Her daughter, Bianca Robinson, told reporters she went in beforehand to do her mother’s makeup and asked to see her. When an employee unzipped the body bag, she said she noticed a mark on the woman’s toe was missing.

Robinson told WXYZ that she told the staff, "This is not my momma sir." She said an employee then told her that her mother may have been cremated. The family says the woman in the casket was wearing their mother’s dress, hair and makeup. "It’s a lady in there with our mother’s dress on, and her hair on, and her makeup, and it’s not our mother," her brother, Byron Moore, told WXYZ.

A family member told WXYZ that funeral home staff said "they think the toe tag got wet and fell off and that’s how her body got mixed up with somebody else’s body." WDIV reported that the funeral home acknowledged two women had arrived at the same time.

The family says the plan had been for Moore to be cremated only after her funeral service on Saturday, after everyone had a chance to see her one last time. Robinson said the family was left without a viewing and without answers. "We don’t even have her ashes," she told WDIV. The station reported that the family was given conflicting information about whether ashes were available. WXYZ reported that the memorial service went ahead Saturday without her remains.

In a statement reported by FOX 2 and WDIV, Hutchison Funeral Home said: "We are heartbroken and deeply sorry for what Ms. Moore’s family has experienced." It said it has launched its own internal review "to determine exactly what happened" and would keep communicating with the family "honestly and respectfully."

Joseph Hutchison Jr., the home’s vice president of operations, told WXYZ, "We’re investigating it." Mario Morrow, a public relations representative for the funeral home, told WDIV: "We’re going to get to the bottom of it, and if the funeral home is found at fault, we’re going to make the family whole."

In the coverage IF Daily reviewed, the funeral home had not publicly detailed what happened to Moore’s body or confirmed how the mix-up occurred. The identity of the other woman has not been reported, and the findings of the internal review have not been released. No charges or state regulatory action have been reported.

IF Daily will update this story if the funeral home, Detroit police or the family release more information.