Detroit Woman Discovers Wrong Body in Casket Before Mother's Memorial Service

A Detroit woman experienced a horrifying realization when she arrived at Hutchinson Funeral Home to view her late mother before her memorial service and discovered the body in the casket was not her mother's.

Bianca Robinson went to the funeral home on September 18 to see her mother, Kimberly Moore, one last time before the memorial. However, upon viewing the body, Robinson realized it was not her mother. A family member told WXYZ that the funeral home staff believed a toe tag had become wet, causing Moore's body to be mixed with another individual's.

Moore died on September 3. Her family proceeded with a memorial service on September 19 without her body or ashes, as they were still awaiting information on the whereabouts of her remains. Robinson recounted that when funeral home staff asked if the body was her mother's, she looked at the feet and noticed a mole was missing. "I looked at that man and I said, ‘Sir, this is not my mama,’" Robinson told the outlet. She was then informed by a staff member that her mother might have been cremated "a week or two ago" and that two other women who arrived around the same time may have been mistakenly cremated instead.

"It’s a lady in there with our mother’s dress on, and her hair on, and her makeup and it’s not our mother," said Byron Moore, Robinson’s brother. The family expressed their distress and need for answers, stating, "We need answers. This is crazy. We don’t deserve this. She don’t deserve this."

Kimberly Moore was a mother of five and grandmother to 28 children. The Hutchinson Funeral Home issued a statement expressing they are "heartbroken" and "deeply sorry" for the incident. The funeral home has launched an internal review to determine how the mix-up occurred. Mario Morrow, a public relations representative for Hutchinson Funeral Home, told WDIV that if the funeral home is found to be at fault, they intend to "make the family whole."

The family is also asking for anyone who believes the unidentified woman in the casket may be their loved one to contact Hutchinson Funeral Home. "Whoever this lady is, I pray that her family come forth because they need. They need answers too," Robinson said.