Oooops----Kaching'

[Charles Parker]

Here is an interesting one that should make you want to follow-up. Not the first time a short-cut was made that cost a city-----and probably not the last one!

Mom sues after son mistakenly ID'd as murder victim


The mother of a homicide victim misidentified by ########, which led to his being mourned and buried by strangers last year, has sued the city.

The department "wrongly identified the body of Kenny Thomas ###### and informed the wrong family that Kenny Thomas ###### had been a victim of a homicide," according to Kathleen #####, the mother of the victim.

##### was shot three times in the head and killed last year in #####. At the time, police said they relied on another man's father who identified the body as his missing son, named Frederick #####.

The ###### family had an open casket funeral, complete with grieving relatives streaming by the coffin. ###### turned up a week later in a ###### rehab center. ###### estranged wife notified police.

Police checked the fingerprint files to a statewide database and discovered they had buried the man under the wrong name. Family members of the victim were notified on the situation. The body was exhumed, eulogized and re-buried under the correct name: ########.

In the civil lawsuit, filed last week in ##### County Circuit Court, ###### said the department "failed to follow proper police procedure in identifying the victim of a homicide."

Investigators took fingerprints of the victim,

but didn't check them for a positive match at the time of death, police said.

They relied solely on the father's identification. The department said it would change its policy.

####### is seeking damages in excess of $50,000.

Yep----taking shortcuts for expediency vs accuracy.

[Gerald Clough]

But what a fine tribute to the mortician's skill in fixing him up to look like Freddie:

The ###### family had an open casket funeral, complete with grieving relatives streaming by the coffin.