U.S. woman says mom's body was mistakenly cremated in Canada

[spaminator]

U.S. woman says mom's body was mistakenly cremated in Canada
QMI Agency
First posted: Saturday, January 11, 2014 11:01 AM EST | Updated: Saturday, January 11, 2014 11:29 AM EST
A Rhode Island woman who was shocked to discover that the wrong body was placed in her mother's casket at a funeral home last month has hired a detective to solve the mystery.
According to the Rhode Island Providence Journal, Margaret Porkka died suddenly on Thanksgiving while on a family vacation in St. Maarten. The family told the paper it believes there was a mix-up with a Canadian who had died on the island within a few hours of Porkka.
Kondvar says that woman’s body was sent to New Jersey while her mother’s body was sent to Ottawa, where it was cremated by another grieving family.
The family says U.S. Sen. Jack Reed has put a staff member on the case and is keeping the family updated with any new information.
“No family should ever have to go through something like this,” Reed is quoted as saying in the paper. “We want to help them get answers and ultimately try to ensure this type of situation never happens again.”
Kondvar said that the funeral home that handled her mother’s body in St. Maarten has not provided any answers and has tried to point the finger elsewhere.
“We want closure,” Kondvar said. “We want to find out if that person cremated in Canada was really our mother.”
U.S. woman says mom's body was mistakenly cremated in Canada | Canada | News | Toronto Sun

 

[spaminator]

U.S. woman finds wrong body in mother’s casket, suspects she was cremated in Canada
01/11/2014 07:37 AM Erika Niedowski, The Associated Press
A woman wants answers after discovering the wrong body in a casket that should have contained her mother, who died unexpectedly while on vacation in St. Maarten.
Lisa Kondvar, of Warwick, R.I., and her family discovered another woman’s body in the casket at a New Jersey funeral home last month. The body of her mother, Margaret Porkka, had been prepared at a funeral home on the island.
“I looked up, and I was like, ‘Good God, are you kidding me?’ I was stunned,” Kondvar said by telephone Friday.
The family proceeded with the wake, with the casket closed, because they discovered the mistake just before calling hours were about to begin.
The relatives believe a hospital or funeral home confused Porkka’s body with that of a Canadian woman who died on the island around the same time. They also think Porkka’s body was cremated in Ottawa.
The family wants to know for sure and will take possession of the ashes if they are determined to be those of Porkka, Kondvar said.
The two dead women bore no resemblance to one another and were of different frames and heights, she said. The family has hired a detective and is looking for an international attorney.
St. Maarten Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams said Friday the government there has formed a committee to investigate the case at the request of U.S. officials and will conduct a DNA analysis to verify the identities of both bodies.
She said the women were in their 80s and died Nov. 29 from natural causes and their bodies were flown to the U.S. on the same airline. She said the body flown to Canada was cremated.
Emerald Funeral Home director Orlando Vanterpool said he took the bodies to the airport on the same day and the air trays containing the bodies were identical.
“To my knowledge, we sent the correct human remains,” he said. “Everything was regulated with the government. All the paperwork was in order, but apparently somewhere, somehow, something happened.”
Vanterpool said he would give the family a refund if the government determines a mistake was made.
Kondvar said her sister wasn’t allowed to see the body on the island and the funeral home wouldn’t release it unless the family wired $7,000 in cash because it wouldn’t accept a check or credit cards.
Vanterpool said Emerald Funeral Home has a policy of not releasing human remains until the necessary payments have been made, especially if the remains are being flown abroad.
St. Maarten, which is part of the Netherlands, shares a Caribbean island with St. Martin, a French dependency. Porkka and the family were there over Thanksgiving.
Kondvar said her 82-year-old father, who lives in Englewood, N.J., and couldn’t make the trip to St. Maarten, is distraught after being unable to say goodbye to his wife of more than 60 years.
“He’s very angry and very bitter,” she said.
Kondvar said a cause of death for her mother hasn’t been provided and the death certificate issued in St. Maarten listed her as a man.
With files from Judy Fitzpatrick
U.S. woman finds wrong body in mother’s casket, suspects she was cremated in Canada | CityNews

 

[spaminator]

Barrie, Ontario woman's body taken to New Jersey by mistake
By Cheryl Browne ,Barrie Examiner
First posted: Tuesday, January 14, 2014 07:36 PM EST
The unexpected deaths of two women while on a tropical vacation has turned into a nightmare for their families.
Kathleen Togwell, 82, of Barrie, died while vacationing in St. Maarten on Nov. 29. Her body was flown home and her bereaved family flew from across the globe to attend her funeral on Dec. 10.
Almost 1,000 km away in New Jersey, the Porkka family was about to pay respects to their 82-year-old mother, Margaret Porkka, who had also died while vacationing on the island on Nov. 29.
BARRIE, ONT. - The unexpected deaths of two women while on a tropical vacation has turned into a nightmare for their families.
Kathleen Togwell, 82, of Barrie, died while vacationing in St. Maarten on Nov. 29. Her body was flown home and her bereaved family flew from across the globe to attend her funeral on Dec. 10.
Almost 1,000 km away in New Jersey, the Porkka family was about to pay respects to their 82-year-old mother, Margaret Porkka, who had also died while vacationing on the island on Nov. 29.
It was only when a Porkka family member looked in their mother's coffin did they realize they were about to bury the wrong woman.
“When we opened up the casket at the funeral home, it was very apparent to me that was not my mother. They wouldn't really believe us at first,” Ken Porkka said. “I was flabbergasted. Everything was pointing to that being my mom, but it wasn't her. I thought I was going crazy.”
A call to the St. Maarten funeral home determined only two women had been transported off the island that day.
The other woman had been sent to Barrie.
Unbeknownst to the Togwell family, the woman at the Barrie funeral home whom they were mourning and had already been cremated, wasn't their mother.
Anthony Togwell said he and his children are just coming to terms with the mix-up and have no comment at this time.
Barrie police Det. Scott Aldridge has been assisting medical examiners in both Canada and the U.S. to positively identify the women.
“My role was in trying to bring Mrs. Togwell home, to repatriate her,” Aldridge explained.
In what Aldridge has called “the perfect storm," the similarities in appearance between the two women was partly to blame.
“They were the same age, had the same hair colour and similar features,” Aldridge said.
A different method of embalming and heavy make-up also may have contributed to the misidentification, he said.
“There's no doubt in our minds that we've properly identified these women,” Aldridge said.
Togwell's body is being sent to Barrie and Porkka's cremated remains are on their way to the U.S.
-- With files from QMI Agency

Kathleen Togwell of Barrie. (Handout)​

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Barrie, Ontario woman's body taken to New Jersey by mistake | Ontario | News | Toronto Sun

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[EagleSmack]

Alright already!

 

[petros]

Who identified the body in Barrie? Nobody gets put in the easy bake oven without a confirmation of identity.