Grieving family shown wrong body in casket: Lawsuit

Inset: Addison Jenkins (Boyd Funeral Home). Background: Boyd Funeral Home (Google Street View).

A grieving family says a New Jersey funeral home put a different body in their loved one’s clothes, placed the person in the casket and presented them at the family viewing.

The lawsuit, first filed in September, alleges Boyd Funeral Home workers were negligent when they put the wrong body in Addison Jenkins’ clothes after he died in February 2023 and then claimed it was Addison Jenkins in that casket.

“Our law firm (Eichen, Crutchlow, Zaslow, LLP) is eager for the wrongdoers to respond to the Complaint as the defendants have yet to make a formal appearance,” Michael Shaw said in an email to Law&Crime. “We look forward to the discovery phase of the case which we anticipate will bring all the facts to light and provide our clients with answers to many unanswered questions. The Jenkins family deserves those answers and the right to properly grieve their loss.”

A representative from Boyd Funeral Home did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Law&Crime.

The ordeal began on Feb. 11, 2023, when Jenkins died at 81, court documents said. His family made arrangements with Boyd Funeral Home for a viewing on Feb. 18, followed by cremation, court documents said.

Dorothy Jenkins brought her late husband’s clothes and personal belongings to the funeral home on Feb. 15, a few days before the funeral services and final interment.

Two days later, the family went to the funeral home in Camden to view Addison Jenkins’ body and say their final goodbyes before the public viewing the following day.

During the private viewing, family members approached the casket and “became immediately distressed and angered when they saw another unrecognizable corpse dressed in Addison’s clothes and belongings,” court documents said.

“The plaintiffs were shocked, upset, confused, and full of tears,” the lawsuit said.

The family spoke with an employee who showed them text messages from the funeral director, who was not present, that “adamantly state the body was in fact Addison Jenkins,” court documents said.

Even the makeup artist assured them the corpse was Addison, not another person. The funeral director later sent the family photos again, insisting the proper body had been presented, court documents said.

The family pointed out discrepancies such as Addison’s cauliflower ear and an infection on his feet. The unidentified corpse had neither, court documents said.

The lawsuit does not indicate the amount of money the family seeks for negligent infliction of emotional distress and mishandling of human remains.

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]