When a loved one passes away, it can be a very stressful and challenging situation. At the same time, there are many very important decisions that need to be made. One of the most important decisions that will need to be made is what to do with the remains of the deceased. One common option that many people pursue is the decision to have their loved one cremated. The advantage to this, is that you can then place their ashes in an urn, which can be held on display for centuries to come.

Those that choose to have their loved ones cremated have the general belief that they will receive the remains of their loved one, and not those of someone else. However, one Atlanta family recently learned that they had mistakenly received the remains of a complete stranger instead of their own family member.

In a very strange story, the family of Paulette Patricia Bradley decided to have her remains cremated when she passed away on September 26, 2018. Mrs. Bradly passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer’s at the age of 69. The family then ended up holding a service for Mrs. Bradley on September 29 and later displayed her remains in a home of the family. About two weeks later, they received a call that was very startling.

The hospital that cared for Mrs. Bradley claimed that the Bradley family was holding the ashes of the wrong person. Apparently, there was confusion between the hospital, funeral home, and cremation service that led to the mistake. The owner of the funeral home was the first to notice this mistake and tried to correct the error by replacing the ashes with the correct ones and refunding all of the money they charged for the service.

However, the Bradley family has declined this offer. Instead, they are suing the funeral home, the hospital, and the cremation service. The Bradley family is very frustrated by the situation and is partially suing to figure out exactly which party is at fault and to prevent this from happening again. At this point, none of the service providers are taking responsibility for the situation and the legal proceedings should help to clear this up.