A South Carolina daughter arrived at her late mother’s open-casket viewing expecting a final farewell. Instead, a lawsuit claims, she found an unidentified woman in the coffin dressed in her mother’s “Sunday best.”
Iris Gordon had agreed to pay Ocean View Funeral Home $13,820 for her 87-year-old mother’s wake and graveside service after Iris Evans died in January. But when Gordon went to the funeral home to pay her respects, she was met with a horrifying mistake, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in Horry County and obtained by The Post.
Court documents say Gordon had given Atu Williams, identified as one of the funeral home’s owners, Evans’ black-and-gold African attire, along with a scarf, hat, wig and undergarments to be used for the viewing.
The clothing was intended to create a meaningful final image of Evans for her loved ones — one that reflected how they remembered her dressed in her Sunday best while singing with the church choir, the lawsuit alleges.
Evans was described as a devoted Christian great-grandmother who cherished music and regularly attended church.
On Jan. 30, Gordon and more than 20 relatives gathered at Ocean View Funeral Home for the scheduled open-casket viewing, according to the court filing.
When the family approached the casket, however, they allegedly discovered that the person inside was an “unknown stranger” wearing Evans’ black-and-gold clothing, scarf, hat and wig.
“Iris was devastated by what she saw and the experience,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint says seeing an unidentified woman dressed as her mother in front of her closest relatives caused Gordon humiliation, embarrassment and severe emotional distress, leaving her to break down at the solemn gathering.
Gordon immediately alerted Ocean View employees and Williams. The lawsuit claims they acknowledged that the funeral home had made the disturbing identification error.
A replacement viewing was arranged for two hours later. When the family returned, they allegedly found Evans in the casket wearing the same clothes that had previously been placed on the unidentified woman, according to court papers.
The complaint does not identify the stranger whose body was mistakenly placed in Evans’ casket. Gordon’s attorney, Benjamin Baroody, did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for additional information.
Gordon says the incident caused emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression. She is seeking reimbursement of the $13,820 service cost, along with additional damages that were not specified in the filing.
Ocean View Funeral Home did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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