Cremation Horror: Family Says Funeral Home Lied About Son’s Remains

A grieving Missouri family has filed a shocking lawsuit against a local crematory claiming they were given the wrong ashes after the facility let their -year-old child s body decompose in storage before cremation Cremation Horror Family Says Funeral Home Lied About Son s Remains According to the suit filed in St Louis County Circuit Court Marissa and Jonathan Pierce say they trusted Tranquil Rest Cremation Services with the remains of their son Eli Pierce who tragically died in January following complications from a congenital heart condition What followed they claim was a disturbing chain of neglect deception and emotional devastation The complaint alleges that instead of promptly cremating the child s body the crematory stored Eli s remains unrefrigerated for several days causing advanced decomposition When the parents requested to see their son one final time before the cremation the crematory allegedly advised them he was not in a viewable state Even more disturbing weeks later the family was presented with an urn only to learn through a whistleblower a former employee that the ashes were not their son s They gave us someone else s ashes Our son was left to rot and they lied to us to cover it up disclosed Marissa Pierce in an emotional press conference Thursday We placed our trust in them during the worst time of our lives and they betrayed us in the cruelest way doable The family s attorney Rachel Mendoza reported the suit alleges gross negligence fraud mishandling of human remains and emotional distress The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages and are calling for a full inspection of the crematory s licensing and practices State regulators have launched an inquiry into Tranquil Rest which has faced previous complaints including mishandled paperwork and delayed cremations The crematory has not issued a constituents announcement but court records show it has retained legal counsel The situation has sparked renewed calls for stricter oversight of funeral homes and crematories in Missouri where inspections are at the moment infrequent and largely complaint-driven