Family says they received wrong ashes during memorial service

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Clayton County family and their legal team are trying to find out how the wrong ashes were delivered to the family. It happened weeks before they were notified something was wrong, and leaves questions regarding what’s believed to be another person’s unclaimed remains.

Patricia Bradley, 69, died in September after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Prior to her death, Bradley’s daughter, Regina Wynn, served as her caretaker in their Jonesboro home.

On Sept. 29, Bradley’s remains were delivered to the family shortly before their scheduled memorial service through Speer-Shelton Funeral Home in McDonough.

But two weeks later, Wynn said she received a call from Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale, where a representative asked Wynn when Bradley’s body would be claimed.

“I said, 'I have my mom’s ashes. What are you talking about?'” Wynn recalled. "If they hadn’t have contacted me, I would have still believed that was my mom.”

In a Christmas Eve news conference at the northeast Atlanta law offices of the CK Hoffler Firm, attorney CK Hoffler brought out a heavy, unmarked box that Speer-Shelton Funeral Home had identified as Bradley’s remains.

“This is more than just a mix-up. This is more than just negligence. This is inexcusable,” Hoffler said.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr traced the story back to McDonough Monday, and reached funeral director Edwin Shelton by phone.

“I thought I had the correct cremains,” Shelton told Carr. “That’s all that was. I ain’t did nothing wrong and I ain’t got nothin’ to argue about.”

Shelton said he sent Cremation Services of Atlanta to the hospital, and they returned the remains before the funeral service, confirming them as Bradley’s. He told Carr he didn’t have a written transaction of the exchange, and didn’t know anything was wrong until Bradley’s family received the call from the hospital.

Shelton says he then sent his “own guy” to pick up Bradley’s body and have it cremated, after the crematory service told him they didn’t do hospital pickups.  Shelton didn’t have dates for the transaction when Carr asked about the timeline, and Hoffler confirmed the law firm had yet to see any documentation of the transactions.

“The crematory messed up everything,” Shelton said.

But Carr got a very different account from the Conyers-based crematory when she reached its president by phone a short time later.

Mike Boston said he didn’t deliver unmarked ashes to Shelton, and he didn’t even receive authorization to cremate Bradley until Oct. 11. That’s the same time Wynn received the call from Southern Regional Medical Center to claim the body, and the same time Shelton sent someone to sign for the body.

“How is it that he could give the family anything when he knew for a fact they hadn’t even picked her up from the hospital?” Boston asked, noting concern for the family involved.

Boston said Shelton then signed for Bradley’s carefully marked remains at 11:54 a.m. on Oct. 16, weeks after her memorial service. He said the double-marked remains were tagged according to state regulations. Boston read from the disclosures signed by Shelton, and said he’d be willing to release the documents with the permission of the family, citing privacy concerns.

At the time of the morning press conference, Hoffler said she was not even aware of the third party crematory involvement when presented the information.

Carr wasn’t able to reach Shelton again after their initial conversation, when he also confirmed he was now in possession of Bradley’s remains. He agreed to speak about the incident on-camera after the holiday.

Southern Regional Medical Center also released a statement noting protocol was followed when the Speer-Shelton Funeral home signed for Bradley’s body. No date was noted in the statement.

“They can come right over and get them,” Shelton said, noting he’d already offered the family a full refund on the discounted service after they realized the mix-up.

But Shelton was not able to say whose remains he’d passed along to the family, noting he tried to swap ashes with the attorneys, who are keeping the evidence for discovery in a planned lawsuit.

The attorneys said they wanted to get the story out in hopes someone may recognize their loved one involved in the remains mix-up, and to warn others of the Bradley family story.

“They would probably do anything just not to live this nightmare,”  Hoffler said.

“This holiday is very difficult for me and my family, and right now we are devastated,” said Wynn.

Cox Media Group