Dead man gets 2 services with 2 women claiming to be his wife
Demetra Street didn’t know, as she sang at her husband Ivan’s Baltimore funeral service in late January, that apparently he already had been buried days earlier and miles away. She had no idea, according to her lawyer, that the funeral urn supposedly bearing his ashes that day was empty, a fake designed to trick her into believing the funeral home had followed Ivan’s wishes to be cremated.
About the only thing real, according to a federal lawsuit, was that on Jan. 9, 2021, Baltimore resident Ivan T. Street died at the age of 67 from congestive heart failure, and that Demetra Street began making funeral plans. She arranged for him to be cremated by Wylie Funeral Homes, signed a contract, made payment and determined a memorial service would be held at the funeral home.
Around that time a second woman walked into Wylie Funeral Homes, also claiming to be Ivan Street’s wife, and seeking to make funeral arrangements. She even provided a 24-year-old, unofficial marriage certificate and arranged for him to be buried, according to a court filing.
Last week Demetra Street filed a federal lawsuit alleging a sweeping, concerted fraud by Wylie and its employees to ignore her wishes, hold two funeral services and collect two fees. The lawsuit alleges the funeral home followed the instructions of the second woman without verifying her story, and took that woman’s money to bury him at Mt. Zion Cemetery. Demetra Street said her husband wanted to be cremated. After Ivan Street was buried, the funeral home held a “sham” cremation service for Demetra Street and kept her money, according to the lawsuit.
https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2021/08/dead-man-gets-2-services-with-2-women-claiming-to-be-his-wife-but-funeral-home-gets-sued.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
