Widow buried with wrong veteran at national military cemetery in Florida

BUSHNELL, Fla. — The widow of a military veteran was buried with the wrong spouse at Florida National Cemetery, according to a report.

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According to WFLA-TV, a woman’s casket was found in a crypt with the wrong veteran in June. It was the second time in two years that a deceased widow was interred with the wrong spouse at the national cemetery, located 52 miles north of Tampa in the city of Bushnell, located in Sumter County.

In August 2022, the cremains of a woman were mistakenly mixed with the wrong veteran, WFLA reported.

The families involved in the latest mixup have not responded to the television station’s requests for comment.

A Tampa-area woman died and was to be buried with her husband, but when his grave vault was opened there was already a second casket inside the crypt, according to the television station.

“During the scheduling of a subsequent burial of a Veteran’s spouse, we discovered the already interred remains of an unclaimed spouse with a similar name as the Veteran’s spouse,” Veterans Administration spokesperson Terrence Hayes said in an emailed statement to WFLA.

Jack Hales, who specializes in cemetery and funeral home negligence, told the WFLA that the mistakes were “horrendous.”

“It’s a very special type of trust that you’re giving and it opens that floodgate for what else was wrong,” Hales told the television station. “If they say they fixed it, can I trust that fix really happened.”

In the most recent error, the wrong woman was interred in the vault about three years ago, WFLA reported.

The remains were replaced by the correct spouse, and the first woman was laid to rest again with a veteran believed to her husband, who was buried in a different section.

Hayes said the families connected to the June incident were notified.

“We resolved the matter quickly, sincerely apologized to the family, and worked closely with them to honor their wishes and pay tribute to their beloved Veteran,” Hayes said in his email to the television station.