Army Vet's body didn't make it to funeral on time

Local/StateFuneral Fiasco: Wrong body sent to family
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 8:16 AM
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by Cathy Gandolfo & Dann Cuellar
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - August 18, 2009 (WPVI) -- It was to have been a time to say farewell to 80-year-old Kenneth Roberts.
As if funerals aren't sad and emotional enough, what happened in South Philadelphia was a nightmare for the family and friends of Mr. Roberts.
The funeral was to be held at Tindley Temple United Methodist Church on South Broad Street Tuesday morning, but the body that was brought there was not that of Kenneth Monroe Roberts, a South Philadelphia resident and army veteran.
"They kept trying to tell us that it was him and I knew it wasn't him," the wife of Kenneth Roberts, Janin Holsey, said.

However, mourners were still horrified as the body was face down and partially hanging out of the ajar casket.
read more here
http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6971470
linked from CNN

UPDATE to this story you won't believe,,,,,
Funeral director speaks on mix-up
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 11:51 PM
By Chad Pradelli
SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - August 19, 2009 (WPVI) -- After dozens of calls and personal visits, the funeral director at the center of the mix-up, Frankie Francis, has finally talked.
Horrified relatives of Kenneth Roberts couldn't contain their emotions Tuesday when they learned their beloved family member was lying in a casket at another funeral service across town.
"They kept trying to tell us it was him, but I knew it wasn't him and I told them that it wasn't him," the wife of Roberts, Janin Holsey, said Tuesday.
Francis Funeral Home Director Frankie Francis tells Action News it was simply a terrible error.

However, even more troubling for the Roberts family, once the mix-up was acknowledged, Roberts' body arrived at the church naked, upside down, and partially hanging out of the casket.
read more of this here
Funeral director speaks
linked from CNN