Families suing cemeteries after grave mix-up

NORTH LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Over a dozen families are suing two South Florida cemeteries after they made a disturbing discovery while visiting their loved ones' graves.

Twenty-two families are filing suit against the Star of David Cemetery in North Lauderdale. "We have the Meyerson family, the Glickman family, the Katz', there's quite a few families," said Attorney Debi Chalik, who is filing the lawsuit.

According to the families, they came to the cemetery to visit their deceased loved ones and discovered that other people had been buried in the plots they purchased.

Connie Minsky and her sister Bobbie Schaeffur are part of the lawsuit. They say, when they went to visit their father's grave, a woman with the same name as their mother was buried in the spot next to their father. However, their mom is still alive, and had been married to their father for 56 years. "I said, 'How is this possible? My mother's in the car,'" Minsky said.

The cemetery said there was a mix-up. On the other hand, the families believe the owners of the cemetery have been careless and should be punished. "When a person dies, you're assuming you're putting them to rest and at peace, and you make peace with it and life goes on," said Minsky, "but when something like this happens, how do you find peace?"

Attorney Chalik is even concerned about whether her deceased family members have been buried in the right places. She said, "We even feel like, 'What's going on with our loved ones? Are they still there?'"

The company that owns this cemetery and others released the following statement: "We value our relationships with our client families and invite them to contact us if they have any concerns about the burials of their loved ones."

The families will not be satisfied until the cemeteries are shut down for good, however. "They should be put out of business. I don't understand why they're still in business," Schaeffur said.

In the past, the owner of the cemeteries has faced numerous lawsuits, according to the attorney representing the families.

In this case, the 22 families are asking for a minimum of $15,000 each from the cemetery.

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