If any story truly meets the definition of legally weird, this is it. After her funeral, the family of a recently deceased woman received a bag of what the DeVargas Funeral Home in New Mexico loosely termed “personal effects.” Unconcerned, one family member reportedly left the bag in the back of his truck for a few days. That turned out to be mistake. An unpleasant smell finally attracted the notice of others in the family who, upon investigation found among the clothes, jewelry and wallet of the deceased, a clear plastic bag marked: “brain.” “They knew what they had,” clarified the family attorney, Richard Valle. The family is suing.
Serenicare claims that they placed the brain, snugly encased in its bag, inside the casket with the body for shipment to New Mexico. Serenicare owner Dick Johnson adds that the family is usually encouraged to let the funeral home “discard” the bagged organ, rather than take it home. One would image that, given the choice, they would follow this advice. The DeVarges people in New Mexico beg to differ. “In the end, we inherited the problem from Utah,” owner Johnny DeVargas told the Albuquerque Journal. “We are a very reputable company and we were dealt a bad hand.”
Thankfully, the woman’s brain now rests peacefully with the rest of her remains. Attorney Valle says the family remains distraught. “They’re angry, this just isn’t right,” Valle said of his clients. “Even [author] Stephen King wouldn’t write something like this. It’s too morbid, even for him,” he added.
Related Resources:
- Grieving Family Gets Brain of Dead Relative Sent to Them by Funeral Home (ANC News)
- Family: Funeral home sent brain home in bag (MSNBC)
- Funeral Homes, Contracts and Consumer Law (FindLaw)
- Personal Injury Basics (provided by Law Firm of M. Paul Fischer, P.C.)
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