Family seeks more than $16M from R.G. Ortiz Funeral Home over alleged body mix-up
According to a lawsuit filed in Bronx County, Jose Daniel Diaz Felipe died on May 17 at a Manhattan nursing home.
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A family is seeking more than $16 million in damages from R.G. Ortiz Funeral Home after they say they arrived for their 84-year-old father’s wake and found another man’s body in the casket.
According to a lawsuit filed in Bronx County, Jose Daniel Diaz Felipe died on May 17 at a Manhattan nursing home. His children say they made arrangements with the funeral home for their father to be embalmed and prepared for a wake and final viewing.
But when the family arrived, the lawsuit alleges they immediately realized the man in the casket was not their father.
According to the complaint, funeral home employees initially insisted the body was Diaz Felipe. The family says they later learned two deceased men with the name “Jose Diaz” had been mixed up.
The lawsuit alleges Diaz Felipe had actually been cremated on May 23 — five days before his scheduled wake — leaving his family without the opportunity to see him one final time.
His children are now seeking more than $16 million in damages, alleging loss of sepulcher, breach of contract, negligence and gross negligence.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
