Unexpected body thwarts burial in family plot

• Dignity Memorial%2C which operates Evergreen Cemetery%2C has apologized in a corporate statement.
• The statement says the cemetery is more than a century old%2C and inaccurate records may be to blame.
• Son alleges cemetery plots for mother and niece were %22double sold%22 and that it%27s %22traumatic%27 for all
• The cemetery is %22completing a physical check of every unmarked plot in this section%2C%22 the statement says.

With Memorial Day weekend coming up, Bill Dudley and other members of his family normally would plan a quiet visit to pay tribute to his father, a World War II and Korean War veteran, at Evergreen Cemetery in Louisville.

Instead, Dudley plans to watch as his dad, Jack E. Dudley Sr., and brother, Jack E. Dudley Jr., are exhumed and reburied Friday morning in a historic section near the entrance to the cemetery on Preston Highway.

The reburials came about because Dudley's mother, Nana H. Dudley, 92, had to be buried at an alternative gravesite the day after Mother's Day following the shocking news that someone else was buried in her prepaid plot, beneath a double headstone beside his father, Dudley said.

Dudley's late niece, Susan E. Bartelt, also had to be buried at an alternative site in 2013, after Evergreen notified her unsuspecting parents of a previous burial at her prepaid plot, too, next to his parents, Dudley said.

"Long story short, it happened to my family twice," he said recently at the cemetery, 4623 Preston, where his mother's new burial site was still decorated with flowers.

His father's reburial, to be accompanied by a military salute, will ensure they are together, as they wanted. His brother, who died of a heart attack in 1999 and was buried a couple of rows away, will be moved so he won't be farther from his dad, Dudley said.

"It's just really going to be hard," he said.

Family members are still trying to figure out why strangers were found in both plots.

Evergreen general manager Jim Caskey referred questions about the Dudley family plots to Jessica McDunn at Dignity Memorial corporate communications headquarters in Houston. Dignity Memorial is a brand of Service Corporation International in Houston.

McDunn sent a statement from Joe Everly, managing director for Louisville, saying, "we deeply apologize for this situation," although the statement does not say exactly what the "situation" is. It does say, "we believed the plots in question were available when they were purchased."

The statement goes on to say Dignity is physically checking every unmarked site in that section to correct any inaccuracies in its records and won't make any other plots available until the process is completed.

Dignity Memorial said when it acquired the century-old-plus cemetery in 1995, it didn't have access to the cemetery's prior records. "(W)e've discovered that some of its older records may not be accurate," the statement said.

But in an emailed account Tuesday, Dudley said he believes both plots were "double sold" by Evergreen — in the case of his niece's site, before a double-headstone for an unrelated family was placed next to his parents' original site.

"To blame all this on poor record keeping in the 1950s is completely inexcusable," Dudley said. In both cases, family members were told people from the 1950s were buried in the two plots, "supposedly" an 8-year-old at his mother's site, he said.

Evergreen is paying for the reburials Friday, and, "Their story is, 'we're sorry, we're sorry, we're sorry,' " Dudley said. But he now refers to the cemetery as "Evergreed" and says cemetery officials "were negligent in not checking" the other plots after the 2013 incident. He recently watched as a pole was inserted in his mother's original plot to verify that it was already occupied and also at the site where she was buried to show it was vacant.

Before his mother died, "We thought and she thought everything was taken care of," he said.

Dignity Memorial did not respond to emailed questions about what specifically happened with the Dudley plots.

Phil DiBlasi, a staff archaeologist at University of Louisville who's been involved in numerous cases related to cemetery burials, said "double-burials" are not illegal if the those involved in purchasing a site request it — which is done sometimes to reduce costs.

Otherwise, he said it's "consumer protection fraud" if a cemetery sells a plot that is already owned by someone else. Also, a state law against grave desecration, which is a felony, forbids digging into a grave that's already occupied to bury someone else, he said.

At Eastern Cemetery on Baxter Avenue, next to Cave Hill Cemetery near Broadway, investigations years ago determined that thousands of people were buried "over and over" in sections where others were already interred, DiBlasi said.

But Eastern is an "egregious" example of violations, and when cemeteries have multiple owners, records can be lost and accidents do occasionally happen, he said.

Dignity Memorial said in its statement that what happened at Evergreen "is a rare occurrence" and that it "successfully" provides services there to more than 750 families each year.

However rare, mistakes do happen and a 2010 Consumer Digest story discussed what it called outright "scams."

"Grave desecration, double-sold plots, abandoned and poorly maintained cemeteries and stolen cemetery funds are just a few of the problems that consumers face," the story said. Some "abuses" stem from the fact that "many people make burial decisions that typically can cost $2,000 to $12,000 under emotional duress" and are reluctant to ask questions, it said.

In 2001, relatives of people who were buried in the two Service Corporation International-owned cemeteries in southern Florida sued, alleging that workers were disposing of human remains to make room for more graves, according to the story. The lawsuit claimed that the cemetery broke open vaults and disturbed remains in an attempt to generate more revenues by packing more graves into close quarters.

In 2003, the company settled with the plaintiffs for $65 million — admitting no wrongdoing, and with Florida for $14 million as part of a plea agreement, the story says.

It said the double selling of graves is not always a function of greed but rather of "irresponsible business practices" and cites comments from Bob Roberts with CemOps, a consulting firm, that the vast majority are "accidental occurrences."

Signs posted along the entrance drive at Evergreen read: "Attention Lot Owners: Please stop by the office to ensure your records are up to date."

Dudley said he has consulted an attorney but does not want to want to disclose what his family might consider doing until after Friday's proceedings. Attorney Bo Bolus, who's looking into the case, said, "We don't know what happened yet, in terms of their (Evergreen's) knowledge. Right now, the family's exploring their options. We're just trying to get them through a very tough time."

Bolus said a variety of legal claims could be made, including "wrongful mishandling of a corpse" and negligence, even if selling an occupied plot was unintentional, he said. It could also be construed as a violation of Kentucky's consumer protection act, or "a good old fashioned breach of contract," he said.

Claims also could be based on distress or mental anguish caused by the circumstances, he said.

On May 9, the day after his mother died, Dudley explains what happened in a video filmed at the cemetery that's posted on Facebook. Dudley's family also has started a website: www.neverlastingpeace.com.

DiBlasi said such problems are a common concern: "Everybody worries about what happens to them when they die."

Reporter Martha Elson can be reached at (502) 582-7061. Follow her on Twitter at @MarthaElson_cj.