Two veterans die of heart disease two months apart. One ends up in a cemetery in Boulder City. The other, in an urn in California. Neither is where it's supposed to be—they were accidentally switched. It must happen more than we know: Two bodies destined for their final resting places somehow cross paths and spend the rest of their time on Earth in a space labeled for someone else. Likely an honest, although morbid, mistake. And one that harkens back to trees falling unobserved in the woods. If we don't know, does it really matter? Maybe not—until someone listens. Then it becomes a case of indignity to the departed and agony to his loved ones. Like the mistake that came to the public's attention last week, almost a year after the cremation and burial of two men who fell under the care of a pink and orange stucco mortuary in North Las Vegas.
Their names even overlapped, sort of. John Stevens, 58, of Needles, California, and Steven Erwin, 55, of Las Vegas. Though their paths in life never crossed, they did in death. It happened last fall at Harrison Ross Mortuary. Sandwiched between a trailer park and a beauty parlor, this large, boxy building with three indiscreet garage doors on the side made an enormous mistake. Stevens was to be cremated and sent to his widow in California. Erwin had no family and was to be buried at the Southern Nevada Veteran's Cemetery. Instead, Erwin was cremated and has been in an urn in the hands of Stevens' widow for months. Stevens (who was also a veteran), was buried in the cemetery in a grave marked for another man.
The inside of the Harrison Ross Mortuary feels like an inexpensive hotel, with short blue carpeting, tranquil blue walls and a front desk that has souvenir "Harrison Ross" pens for the taking. There are large cages of birds on each side of the chapel entry, a tank of flesh-colored fish, and an empty tank.
"I don't know anything about it," says Rev. Willie Wheaton, funeral director, referring phone calls to the corporate office in LA. Wheaton's only been at Harrison Ross since April, and, though it was discovered under his watch, pleads ignorant. "No one has talked to me at all," says President Bill Smith. "Once I get to the bottom of what happened and see what's going on, I can probably make a better judgement call. Right now, I'm somewhat in the dark in terms of knowing exactly what happened. So it's difficult to correct what you don't know."
The Nevada Department of Public Safety is investigating. Because it's a fairly straightforward case, it's expected to be solved in the next two weeks. Meanwhile, the county coroner no longer uses this funeral home on his rotation schedule because of past administrative issues.
"There was no involvement by our office, they were both natural deaths," says Coroner Mike Murphy. "But I believed it was the obligation of this office to right this wrong."
Murphy received a tip last week that two bodies had been switched last year. Both died of heart failure, one in August and the other in October. Erwin, who died in August, had yet to be buried because Clark County Social Services was still searching for kin. Turns out the family members were never found. Neither was the proper burial place.
Last week, Murphy had the body in Erwin's grave exhumed, and says within 24 hours they had a positive identification of John Stevens. Then came the horrific question: How to tell Steven's widow?
"I explained to her that the cremains she had were not her husband. I also explained to her that I did, in fact, have her husband in our office," says Murphy.
Ms. Stevens requested that her husband be cremated as originally intended. (Stevens' lawyer did not return phone calls prior to deadline.) So Murphy went to Palm Mortuary, where Bart Burton, vice president of the preparation room and crematory, oversaw the cremation and urn selection.
"We never discussed any money, we were just trying to help so the wife in California had the right body," says Burton. He admits that the situation is disturbing for the industry. "It concerns me," he says. "No one likes to hear that."
Particularly the coroner, who's involving himself in every step to help rectify the situation. He was present for Stevens' cremation, and last Thursday he attended a military-honored ceremony for Erwin, and ensured that he was properly interred at the veteran's cemetery. And this week he'll return to California to present Ms. Stephens with her husband's cremains. So the grieving process can begin. Again.