NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A woman is suing a Williamsburg funeral home after her mother's body was buried at New York City's site for unclaimed bodies instead of being cremated.
Dawn Morales told NBC 4 that she paid RG Ortiz Funeral Home for cremation after her 78-year-old mother, Nancy Deryayla, died in late August.
Rather than receiving her ashes, Morales said her mother was buried on Hart Island, in the city's cemetery dedicated to unclaimed bodies.
"My mom was treated like nobody cared, and we did," she said. "My mother had a family who loved her and who wanted to do the right thing, and she was put in a place where nobody cared."
However, the city's medical examiner's office alleges that after Deryayla died on Aug. 27, the family was reportedly notified by the funeral home to claim her body by Sept. 10.
When no one reportedly did, her body remained at the MEO's office until Oct. 13 when it was sent for city burial. Three days later, the funeral home reportedly called to claim it.
While a worker at the funeral home told NBC 4 that her body would be returned to the family this week, Morales filed a lawsuit on Wednesday.
"Their failure to notify her of their errors or offer any explanation as to the whereabouts of her mother is downright cruel and absolutely heartbreaking." Phil Rizzuto, her attorney, said.
Morales said she has not been able to fully grieve for her mother, who died after a cancer battle.
"[I want] my mother to be set free finally from being locked up in her home and then to be sick from cancer and to be buried in that horrible place," she added.
1010 WINS reached out to her attorney for comment.
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