‘That’s not my son!’: A Texas father discovers the wrong body in his son’s coffin. The cremation of his son was accidentally carried out by mistake.
Sandy Betts, a librarian in Jacksonville, Florida, smiles as she peruses the photos on the shelves over her desk.
Betts says she made the mementos for Kyle. In one picture, the young man appears to be hugging his mother. In other words, he’s surrounded by people he cares about and who love him.
“He was not apprehensive.” Baseball, she adds, and dancing were three of her son’s favorite things. “He was overjoyed,” a friend reported.
Stephen Brady, a father in Waco, Texas, more than a thousand miles away, tells about his first-born child.
“In Brady’s words: ‘He was my best friend.’
As a result, Davis Brady was also a close family member. Both baseball and music were his passions. “He had a lot of brains.”
There were some noticeable distinctions between their sons, but their sons shared a lot in common. They “did not resemble each other at all,” Betts adds. “They had a significant age gap.”
In his 22nd year, Davis Brady, a 6’1″ young man, entered the fray. He had strawberry blonde hair and a fair complexion.
For those of you keeping score at home: Kyle Betts, 36, was 5 feet 4 inches tall. He was a dark-haired man with a dark complexion.
CBS Dallas adds that it’s much more difficult for these two families to comprehend what’s now haunting them.
Documents from the state of Florida prove what took place.
Brady and Betts were found together in a Jacksonville apartment, according to an incident report from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. They died as a result of accidental drug overdoses. The Betts and Brady families claim that the descriptions of their loved ones in the records are either inaccurate or incomplete.
Their hair, complexion, and build were all described by detectives as being the same: strawberry-blonde with a fair complexion and a medium frame for the two men. Only one man’s weight is listed, while the other’s is blank.
Betts describes his complexion as “not fair and white.” In what they said, “They claimed to be blondes.”
Betts is enraged by the documents. “How is it possible that they could be so misguided?”
While being brought to the Medical Examiner’s Office, bodies are given a case number ending in -65, known as Log-In Receipts. The case number for Brady concludes with the digit -66.
According to both parents, their boys’ clothing descriptions show that their identities have been flipped. Showing his support for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Kyle Betts wore a hat with the team’s logo on it almost every day.
Davis Brady, according to the account, was the only one wearing a hat. Betts claims that her kid was wearing a cap at the time.
“There was no delay in switching them,’ Betts explains.
Two men had their case numbers swapped 24 hours after they received their Log-In Receipts.
Each man should be assigned a unique case number.
Toxicology reports issued several months later, however, seem to have reversed the original case numbers. However, handwritten notes have been made to rectify the figures that appear to be inaccurate in the original digital documents.
Instead of writing their own names in the case numbers, he or she crosses the other person’s out of their paperwork. Despite the fact that the numbers of the men and their cases were supposed to match, there was still some uncertainty.
I mean it is just JSO (sheriff) disrespect and the inconsistencies between a transition from JSO to the Medical Examiner’s Officer,” says Betts, furious at the trail of misunderstanding that has been left in paperwork.
Switched bodies
Davis Brady’s body was intended to be sent to his home in Waco by the Medical Examiner’s Office.
His father, on the other hand, claims that the family made a startling discovery at the viewing.
“”That’s not the hair color,” I say as the body is dragged over to me.
The tint of his beard wasn’t quite right.
Everything about her complexion seemed off.'”
Facing his frustration and anger head-on, Brady exclaims: “I looked and I exclaimed, ‘That is not my son!'”
Brady’s mother immediately began frantic phone calls to Betts’ mother in Florida.
According to Betts, “It was a pretty upsetting message.” “Your son has arrived, I’m pleased to inform you. And Brady’s mom is in Texas, as well.”
Yet another heartbreaking finding
Before that phone conversation, the Betts had made it clear that they wanted their son, Kyle, cremated.
“I felt an overwhelming sense of urgency because I was convinced that I knew exactly where her son was. Her son has already been cremated if my son is there.'”
Betts dialed the phone number that had been given to her.
“I called our funeral home immediately away,” Betts said, recalling the conversation she had with the woman she was speaking with. Kyle hasn’t been burned yet, “so please inform me.” Betts breaks down in tears as she explains what happened next. “‘Cremated today!'”
She exclaimed, “Of all the timing.” “When she [Brady’s mother] reached out to me, he had just been cremated.”
The Bradys’ grief is compounded by the fact that cremation goes against their religious principles.
The Mormon Church uses embalming to prepare for burial, according to Brady. “My family and I were never allowed to view my son’s body after he was taken from us. We were given back our ashes.”
Brady is in disbelief today. “I’ll never be able to lay to rest my son’s remains. We received Davis’ ashes, but I’m not sure they belong to him anymore.”
Brady claims that the number of errors makes it impossible to determine what is accurate. “I’m not sure,” he says.
Officials confirmed the change.
After that, Betts contacted the medical examiner’s office, which confirmed the mix-up, according to Betts.
Betts claims that the affirmation was accompanied by a jarring proposition.
“A simple, low-cost fix was all that was required. ‘Would you rather that we cremate him?’ he said “Betts chimed in.
Betts reacted with wrath, saying, “‘Never in a million years! No, you won’t be cremating my son in Texas, are you?’ If that’s indeed my son in Texas, how can I know for sure? Poor mom needs her son’s body relocated to Texas, and I definitely want my son in Jacksonville.’ -Jacksonville”
Is this a common occurrence?
In both cases, the families are looking at their legal possibilities as well. The Medical Examiner’s Office District IV in Florida and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office are both named as suspects in the case, according to the documentation.
To what extent is this phenomenon common?
“Rare,” says Jim Bates, head of The Funeral Consumers Alliance of North Texas for 30 years. Inquiries about the manner in which a deceased loved one’s death care is handled can be directed here.
Issues regarding body preparation or appearance are common, but body switch complaints are rare, adds Bates.
On the subject of body swaps, Bates says, “I can’t think of any single time.”
According to information obtained by CBS Dallas, the Texas Department of Banking has been approached with four such complaints since 2015. The station obtained allegations and photographs of gravesites involving loved ones stated in reports after digging through pages of documentation and complaints:
It’s not “hidden in the storyline.” ”
‘Two bodies in a single grave,’ and ‘Empty grave,’
“Involved in this scheme through mishap”
“Misplaced in a plot arc”
Differing points of view
CBS Two Texas attorneys who focus on funeral malpractice cases were also contacted by Dallas.
There was a question about the prevalence of body switches.
Alex Katzman explains, “There’s actually no way to know.” For cremations, “It may happen more frequently and I assume that it happens than people report,” says the author.
According to Mark Greenwald, a New York City attorney, the amount of comparable stories and the number of law firms handling these cases around the country proves that body swaps are prevalent.
“The mortuary has made mistakes in identifying bodies, and we’ve had to deal with it in the past… The body was accidentally lost at the funeral home… cremation was the wrong choice of last resting place,” according to Greenwald’s assertions.
“We have literally had to dig people up from the ground who were not intended to be buried in that spot,” he explains.
In an interview with CBS Dallas, Katz and Greenwald reveal that they’re currently working on two cases that are hauntingly similar to the Betts and Brady family’s case.
Keeping the pain close at hand
When Davis looks at a little chain in his hand, he exclaims, “This is all I have of my son.” Brady’s mother handed Davis a cremation bracelet that contained some of Brady’s cremated ashes.
He now carries around what he believes is his son’s ashes, which he carries with him as a constant reminder of his son’s death.
He demands that “someone be held accountable.” Medical examiner and county detectives’ accountability in this case…
There has been no phone contact or apology from anyone, Brady claims.
As a result of the trail of documents, both families are left with even more uncertainties as to what happened.
Because he was someone’s son or brother, they seemed to have forgotten how much Betts valued him as a person.
In reaction to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office
The Sheriff’s Office in Jacksonville sent the following statement to CBS Dallas affiliate WJAX-TV in Jacksonville: “It is against the law for us to answer any questions that could help identify or confirm a victim under Marsy’s Law.
It’s still the responsibility of the Medical Examiner’s Office to identify and release dead bodies, though You’d need to get in touch with them to get further information in the case you described below.”
Response from the Duvall County Medical Examiner
“Pending litigation” prevented WJAX-TV from commenting on this Medical Examiner’s Office.
The best way to keep your loved ones safe from the terrible fate
- A loved one’s body should be identified before it is laid to rest by Jim Bates, Mark Greenwald, and Alex Katzman.
Send a friend or family member to help you identify the body if you are unable to do so.
2. Ask to use Zoom or FaceTime to see body identification if no one is available to do so in person.
3. A tag should be attached to the foot or toe of the body. Ask to see the tag, and match the name and case number of the body and each document to the tag itself.
4. If a funeral home refuses to let you use this method of identification, or if it raises any other red flags, keep in mind that you have the option of transferring your loved one to another facility.
5. This is a red signal if you feel rushed throughout the burial or cremation process. Refrigeration of a body should only cost you $50 per day if there is a delay. Many establishments will try to charge you up to $800 each day. According to Bates, this is an unfair practice.
6. Interns in the field of death care frequently work long hours to perfect their skills. Funeral directors should monitor these interns. Because of this, they shouldn’t be working on their own.
7. You should read the fine print of your contract carefully for any mentions of internships and other practices that may be included.
