Graceland Memorial Park South, a Miami cemetery, is facing a class action lawsuit against it for oversights, improper handling, misplacement and the disturbance of thousands of graves. The lawsuit was filed by attorneys Ervin A. Gonzalez and Neil Hirschfield, on behalf of Alicia Garcia and the class.
The allegations against the cemetery included numerous cases of lost bodies, grave desecration, misidentification of graves and insufficient burial spacing. In addition, cemetery staff allegedly disturbed many burials with heavy equipment and probed graves with metal rods on a routine basis, without the permission of the deceased's family members.
This was based on the experience of Alicia Garcia, who had purchased a burial plot for her sister, Eloisa Garcia in 1986. Alicia Garcia was allegedly assured by the funeral home that the location of her sister's burial would be accurately recorded and the family would always be able to find the grave.
According to the lawsuit, Graceland has no accurate maps or records of the section of the cemetery where Eloisa was buried. In an attempt to locate Eloisa's remains, cemetery staff conducted an extensive search in an area adjacent to where they believed she was located. They uncovered multiple graves with heavy equipment and probed various burials with metal rods. After desecrating multiple graves, Graceland staff removed the lid of the vault that they assumed contained Eloisa's remains.
These probes were conducted without the permission or consent of any family member.
According to the State of Florida Department of Banking and Finance, Division of Finance, this is not the first instance of complaints against the cemetery. Findings from examinations of the cemetery between 1993 and 2001 cite numerous occurrences of inconsistent burial records and misidentification of graves. Although fined by the State, the problem was never corrected, and the cemetery has no intention of remedying the situation without court intervention.
The Garcias and the class are now seeking monetary damages for mental anguish, infliction of emotional distress and gross negligence. They also want an injunction requiring Graceland to locate the burials and take remedial action to ascertain the location of the subject remains and to ensure their proper identification and perpetual care.
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