WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KFDX/KJTL) — Burying a loved one is not easy, but it’s especially hard when you learn your loved one’s final resting place is not where it’s supposed to be.
“It’s the holidays, you know. This isn’t supposed to be happening, and to get that phone call. … The phone call set everything just more off,” Kristen York said Tuesday.
York said Hampton Vaughan Crestview Funeral Home & Memorial Park in Wichita Falls, Texas, called on Dec. 17 to tell her that her father, Ernie York, who died in 1997, isn’t buried in the correct cemetery plot.
The news came after the death of her stepmother, whose last request was to be buried in the plot she had purchased next to her husband.
“The 18th is my dad’s birthday, so I was already an emotional wreck on top of losing my stepmom. So they called me and told me that they needed me to come sign some papers because they buried my dad in the wrong spot,” York said.
This action by Crestview has left many thoughts and questions running through York’s mind.
“So this whole time going out to the cemetery, you know, was he there? Was he not there? Like knowing that he’s in the wrong spot, was I visiting an empty spot?” York questioned.
Crestview officials have been in contact with York as they try to fix the situation, but York said the cause of the mix-up still hasn’t been fully explained.
“Basically what they said was whoever did the map screwed up and they put him in the wrong spot, and ‘I wish that I could tell you more but we’re not the ones who did it. I’m not really sure who did but we need to get this paper signed so we can get him in the correct spot,'” York said.
York said she signed the documents for the move to fulfill the final requests of her father and stepmom, but she said this is a situation she hopes no other family has to go through.
“It’s not right. I hope nobody ever has to deal with this. I hope nobody ever has to deal with this again,” York said.
KFDX reached out to Hampton Vaughan Crestview for a statement regarding the incident but did not immediately receive a response.