A South Carolina woman is suing a funeral home after she says she found a stranger in her mother’s casket at the viewing. Iris Gordon paid Ocean View Funeral Home and Cremation Services $13,820.55 for services for her mother, 87-year-old Iris Evans, who died January 14. Gordon provided her mother’s black and gold African attire for the burial, according to the lawsuit.
At the January 30 viewing, Gordon and her family discovered an unknown person in the casket wearing those clothes. The funeral home’s owner, Atu Williams, admitted the mistake, and the viewing was rescheduled for 5 p.m. that day with Evans’s body present. Gordon says the experience left her with emotional distress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and lost sleep. She is seeking a refund of the funeral costs plus additional damages. Ocean View has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
For families here on the Suncoast, where planning services for parents and grandparents is part of life, the case raises real questions about consumer protection in the funeral industry. If you’re arranging a loved one’s services, ask how identification is verified, get every detail in writing, and don’t hesitate to follow up. Have you ever dealt with a problem at a funeral home? Tell us your story in the comments.
