DETROIT — A Detroit family was stunned to find four bodies in a relative’s cemetery plot -- and their loved one was not among them.
“Four bodies were in there and none of them were his,” Jacqueline Brown-Parks, the aunt of Desmond Montez Stinson, told WDIV.
According to his obituary, Stinson, 24, died Sept. 11, 2016. His family said he had suffered from seizures for years and died in his sleep, according to WDIV. He was buried at Gethsemane Cemetery in Detroit.
“He died in 2016 and we’re visiting someone else where his grave marker’s at,” Brown-Parks told the television station.
When Stinson’s mother died recently, she was buried at a different cemetery, WDIV reported. Family members wanted to bury Stinson next to his mother, but when they tried to exhume his body, they found several bodies in his plot.
In a statement, Jamal Harris, deputy director of the Detroit General Services Department, which oversees cemetery maintenance, apologized and said he believes there was a record-keeping issue.
“We deeply apologize for the pain and upset this mistake has caused the Stinson family and are working to fully correct it as soon as possible,” Harris said. “Based on our review of available records, we believe Mr. Stinson was buried in an adjacent grave, and we are working to confirm this. We are in close contact with the family and will keep them updated.
“Unfortunately, the management company that ran the cemetery and performed the burial in 2016, walked away from their contract a year ago, after other issues of concern were raised,” Harris added. “The City is currently in litigation over those matters, and we decline to comment further on that ongoing litigation.”
Stinson’s family members are still seeking answers.
“Everybody is blaming somebody but we are the victims in all of this,” Brown-Parks told WDIV.