A Bronx funeral home lost a woman’s remains, her devastated family charges in a lawsuit.
“I feel like I failed her,” said a devastated Alfrida Rodriguez, whose sister, Luz Maria Sanchez, died suddenly in September.
Rodriguez hired RG Ortiz Funeral Home in the Bronx to cremate her sister’s remains, and the family was going to have a mass. That was four months ago.
RG Ortiz hasn’t delivered Sanchez’ ashes, and has ignored Rodriguez’ calls, she charges.
“I feel this is a chapter that has not been closed,” she said, crying. “It’s not fair. I have family that are like, ‘Are you sure you paid for this?’ ”
Sanchez, 48, died unexpectedly in her Brooklyn home.
“I had just talked to my sister two days prior,” Rodriguez said. “It was a shock.”
Funeral Director Sandra Tufino picked up Sanchez’ remains from the city Medical Examiner’s office, according to the Bronx Supreme Court lawsuit Rodriguez and her brothers have filed against RG Ortiz.
“I paid for the service. They told me seven to 10 days, she would be ready after that and we would proceed and do a mass,” she said. “I waited 15 days. Nothing happened.”
Each time she called, the funeral home asked for her name and number but never offered an answer as to what happened to Sanchez’ remains, claims Rodriguez, who shelled out $600 to $700 for the cremation.
The family had used RG Ortiz in November 2016, when another sibling died, and two years prior to that, when their uncle died, without any problems, said Rodriguez.
“This is crazy,” she said.
Her lawyer, Jesse Minc, called the situation “egregious.”
“It’s January, she died in September. There’s no reasonable explanation for this,” he said, adding, “How do you lose a body?”
RG Ortiz didn’t return a message.