‘They ruined everything': Family says Houston funeral home put wrong body in casket

HOUSTON — A Houston family is angry at a funeral home, claiming that another man’s body was inside the casket meant for their relative.

After Natividad Torres Cordova died of pancreatic cancer, family members gathered for a service at Santana Funeral Directors, KPRC reported. The casket was late, but that did not appear to be an issue until Cordova’s daughter approached it before the service.

“I went up to the casket to tell him, ‘I love you,’ before anybody came in, and (I) was touching the wrong person, with (my) dad’s clothes,” Maria Vasquez told the television station. “They ruined everything.”

The body in the casket was wearing Cordova’s special Mexico soccer jersey, according to photos taken at the funeral. Videos at the funeral home show family members confronting the funeral home’s employees, KPRC reported.

“It almost felt like a really mean joke,” Natividad Cordova Jr. told the television station. “I don’t even like to talk about it.”

Cordova Jr. went with funeral home employees to find his father’s body, the Houston Chronicle reported. After two hours the body was found, but family members said it was not prepared for a service, the newspaper reported.

“Instead of having good memories of a perfect funeral for our father, because he deserved the best, we are having a nightmare,” Susana Montelongo, another daughter of Cordova, told KPRC.

Arnold Alanis, head of Santana Funeral Directors, declined to be interviewed on camera but told the television station, “We have always believed in serving our families.”

“Once in a while, there might be an issue with a family but we’re not at liberty to discuss that,” Alanis said. “I feel sorry for them, they’re in grief right now with loss of a loved one.”

“We strive real hard to make sure the family’s needs are met,” Alanis told KPRC.

According to Vasquez, the funeral home refunded the funeral costs, but she said there did not seem to be much remorse, the Chronicle reported.

“The director literally rushed out, left us there to handle everything on our own,” Vasquez told KPRC.

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