Family Buries Wrong Body After Crime Lab Mix-Up

Guy who was supposed to be buried is still at the lab
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 19, 2015 12:54 PM CST
Family Buries Wrong Body After Crime Lab Mix-Up
Stock image   (Shutterstock)

A coroner says a mix-up at the Georgia state crime lab led to a family burying the wrong body during a closed-casket funeral. Burke County Coroner Susan Salemi says the body of Johnny Morgan Lowe III was never returned to Augusta after an autopsy. Instead, Salemi says, another body—Louie Caldwell of Clayton County—was mistakenly buried during a December graveside service for Lowe. "I’ve worked at the Coroner’s Office for 10 years and never in my life have I seen this happen," Salemi tells the Augusta Chronicle. "The GBI has taken full financial responsibility, but Mr. Lowe’s family is rightfully devastated. I have no idea how the GBI messed up so bad." She said she was notified of the mistake Feb. 10, when she received a phone call from GBI's chief medical examiner. Salemi says Lowe's body remains at the GBI lab. (More strange stuff stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X