Milwaukee family missed their son's burial so they dug him up and re-buried him

by Mo

FOX 6: A Milwaukee family is already in mourning after losing their loved one — but what happened at the cemetery on Monday afternoon, September 22nd has left them even more devastated. On Tuesday, September 23rd, Mark Williams’ family will bury him…for the second time.

Family members and friends of Mark Williams stood at his grave site in shock on Monday. They came to see his burial, but instead, they saw his coffin exhumed.

“He deserved better than this,” Mark Williams’ mother, Margot Williams said.

Family members and friends came to Vahalla Memorial Park Monday to bury 46-year-old Mark Williams. Williams’ mother, Margot Williams says she wanted to see her son’s casket lowered into the ground, but when she was brought to his grave site, it was too late.

“They had already buried him — put him in the ground and had dirt on him,” Margot Williams said.

Wanting assurance that it was Williams in the grave, his family asked that the casket be brought back up out of the ground. They stood around the grave in shock as the casket — dented and cracked, was pulled from the ground.

“I already had one stroke. I feel like I’m gonna have another one because this is terrible,” Margot Williams said.

The cemetery says the funeral home is to blame for the mistake. It says state law requires a funeral home director to stay with the body until it is lowered into the ground and covered with dirt. The cemetery says that didn’t happen, and the gravediggers didn’t know Williams’ family was there.

Williams’ family says the whole situation is unacceptable. “I want them to know that my son didn’t deserve this,” Margot Williams said. Williams’ family says they believe the funeral home and cemetery share the blame here.

It’s possible that this family just wasn’t thinking straight – having your son/daughter die has to be the worst thing that can happen to a human being.  I can only assume they were looking for answers and probably wanted to dole out some blame for what happened.  But having the body exhumed – how did you really expect that to go?!  

Not sure about you, but I’ve had fun at funerals exactly zero times.  Sounds to me like the gravediggers just cut the funeral time a little short and are owed some thanks.  “Hey, you know that really boring part where you all go stand out in the cold and cry with the sun in your eyes? Yeah, no worries, we already took care of it.”  I’ll take the same treatment when it’s my turn (knock on wood).

Also, don’t tell me you didn’t kind of chuckle when you read “they stood around the grave in shock as the casket – dented and cracked, was pulled from the ground”.  This was a little canned wine away from being an episode of Always Sunny.