A man in California thought he was burying his son. Frank J. Kerrigan spent $20,000 on the funeral ceremony and accepted that his son, Frank M. Kerrigan, was gone. But 11 days after the funeral he found out the person in the casket was someone else. Understandably, he was shocked when a friend called and put his son on the line

The Orange County coroner misidentified Kerrigan’s son, who is 57 and has a mental illness and is living on the streets. Police said he was identified through fingerprints, and so identification by family members was unnecessary. But the Kerrigan family’s attorney said the fingerprint identification failed, so officials instead used an old driver’s license photo.

“When somebody tells me my son is dead, when they have fingerprints, I believe them,” Kerrigan said.

Apparently the men must have looked very much alike, as the family did not realize the mistake despite having an open casket at the funeral. Now family members are planning to sue the coroner’s office, saying that authorities didn’t care much about making a positive identification of Kerrigan because he is homeless.

Father buries his son in $20k funeral – then told days later that the coroner made a mistake and his son is ALIVE! https://t.co/Qr0cpWM5La pic.twitter.com/Qzv8hNR2BI

— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) June 24, 2017

Frank’s sister Carole Meikle visited the scene where she believed her brother had died. “It was a very difficult situation for me to stand at a pretty disturbing scene. There was blood and dirty blankets,” she said.

It is unclear how the man passed away, but the bloody scene did not match what officials had told the family–that Frank passed away “peacefully.” The dead man’s identity is unknown.

Frank chose to go back to the streets. But because of the authorities’ mistake, federal agencies also think Frank is dead and have stopped providing his disability payments. The family is currently working on straightening the situation out.

The Kerrigans informed the authorities of the mix-up, and the Sheriff’s Department extended regrets for “any emotional stress caused as a result of this unfortunate incident. As part of the internal investigation, this incident and all identification policies and procedures will be reviewed to ensure no further misidentifications occur.”

A lot of people came from as far as Las Vegas and Washington to attend the funeral, and the dead man was buried close to Frank’s mother’s grave, in a spot reserved for family members. “We thought we were burying our brother,” said Meikle. “Someone else had a beautiful send-off. It’s horrific.”

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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In a shocking article yesterday, The New York Times revealed the fate of some of the unclaimed dead that end up on Hart Island off the Bronx. In a perfect setting for a horror movie, these graves sit in the company of a former insane asylum and a tuberculosis clinic. But the bodies that end up buried in mass graves are not only poor people with no family or John Does, but also bodies accidentally discarded after being donated for medical research, without the family’s knowledge.

The article tells how in the 1800s bodies from black slaves were used for anatomical research and dissection, either donated by slave owners or just poached from burial grounds. But when a lack of corpses resulted in white, “respectable” bodies being stolen from morgues for the purpose of medical studies, it caused riots. The solution was to legalize the donating of unclaimed bodies to the schools, and these later ended up at Hart Island. Burials started in 1869 and the island is now the last resting place for more than a million people.

If you’re wondering how this could be possible, it’s important to keep in mind that the burial and cremation laws are different for every state. A casket is not necessary to be buried in the state of New York, even though most prefer one, and it is often a big expense that can range from $500 to over $20,000, depending on design and material. On top of that come fees for handling the body, embalming if you prefer, clothes to be buried in, refrigeration, and more. The total cost for being buried in New York can be around $10,000, so it’s not hard to imagine that many don’t come close to affording it.

The window a family has to claim a body can be as short as 48 hours after death, after that the body is available to any medical schools, or mortuary classes. New York is unique in that these unclaimed bodies are later taken to the potter’s field on the uninhabited and remote Hart Island by a group of inmates.

According to the article, private donations of bodies to medical research have increased so much that bodies from city morgues are rarely claimed for this purpose anymore. And even these bodies, that can be extremely wealthy or have a big, loving family, can accidentally end up on Hart Island in cases of miscommunication. It’s a disturbing concept, but one that has now grasped the public’s attention in light of the New York Times piece.

Emma Von Zeipel

Emma Von Zeipel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. She is originally from one of the islands of Stockholm, Sweden. After working for Democratic Voice of Burma in Thailand, she ended up in New York City. She has a BA in journalism from Stockholm University and is passionate about human rights, good books, horses, and European chocolate. Contact Emma at EVonZeipel@LawStreetMedia.com.

The post Hart Island: The Mass Graves Where the Unclaimed Dead of New York Rest appeared first on Law Street.