Latricia Rosecoe says she is hurting and at a loss for words after her mother was buried in the wrong cemetery plot. (Credit: WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)
Lolita Fortuyne
WESTLAND, Mich. (WJBK) -
Video shows a grave digger at Westlawn Cemetery in Westland doing his job in reverse. Instead of burying a casket, he was digging it up so family members could verify Lolita Fortuyne was inside. The young mother was laid to rest on April 14, but not where her family members thought.
"Right now, I'm just at a loss for words. I don't even know what to say. Like I'm hurting," said daughter Latricia Rosecoe.
"I just can't understand how do you make a mistake and have a funeral twice for your mother? How?" said daughter Jakena Urquahart.
It's not clear exactly how it happened, but Fortuyne was buried one cemetery plot over from the space her loved ones were given. They have been visiting the wrong spot for weeks, leaving flowers and saying prayers where a man is actually buried.
They shot the video as their mother's casket was unearthed and they confronted the cemetery's manager.
"You guys sent the letter and we've been visiting this grave. We have been putting flowers at 2306. There was a lady who contacted us and stated that this is her husband," Urquahart is seen telling the cemetery's manager on the video.
"We would've never found out, we would've never known had I not said let me see. I would've never known. I would've still been visiting the man thinking that this was my mother," Roscoe said.
The family paid more than $2,000 for the burial plot. They say the cemetery has yet to apologize or express any sympathy.
We tried to talk to that same cemetery manager to find out how this could happen and address some of the family's concerns, but she refused to answer our questions, kicked us off the property and threatened to call police.
"This is terrible. She should consider how other people are feeling, how we're feeling as her family," said Roscoe.
After she drove away from our cameras, family members did record the manager offering this explanation.
"We put tags on to make sure that they go in the right spot, and that particular day the guys had five burials. They didn't check the tag when they set those two vaults and they should have."
They say they want their money back and possibly to move their mother to another cemetery where she can truly rest in peace.
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Latricia Rosecoe says she is hurting and at a loss for words after her mother was buried in the wrong cemetery plot. (Credit: WJBK | myFOXDetroit.com)
Lolita Fortuyne
