A Florida family is taking legal action against a medical examiner's office after they found out some of their loved one's remains weren't buried. According to FOX 35 Orlando, an attorney representing the family of Cedric McFadden has filed paperwork with the intent to sue the Lake County Medical Examiner's Office for mishandling his remains.
Jacqueline Forshee, McFadden's brother, said the medical examiner's office told her they still had McFadden's skull and part of his spine on February 11. An employee allegedly told them the remains were discovered inside a bin at the Lake County Medical Examiner building -- nearly 20 years after his murder and funeral service.
“She proceeded to tell me that, unfortunately, she had to tell us that we did not bury all of my brother when we buried him 19 years ago,” Forshee said during a Monday (May 13) press briefing.
The office conducted an autopsy on McFadden's body after he was found murdered in 2005. His body was discovered in a badly decomposed state in a pond behind David Lee's house. Lee, who's now 41, was convicted of fatally shooting McFadden during a robbery, according to Law and Crime.
The Lake County Medical Examiner's Office released his remains to a funeral home, which provided a service and buried him. It's unclear how the skull and spine weren't transferred to the funeral home.
McFadden's family described being re-traumatized all over again from this discovery. They ended up having a second funeral, burying his skeletal remains in a box near his casket.
"It was a very traumatic experience because he was murdered," Forshee said. "So that was hard within itself. So now we're doing this all over again."
Ortavia Simon, the family's attorney, accused the medical examiner's office of failing to properly care for McFadden's remains and keep them intact.
"From my experience with these cases, this is probably by far the most bizarre that I've ever encountered in mortuary litigation," he said, per FOX 35. "Not only did it take one year, it took almost 20 years for them to finally reach out and be accountable to this family that they have not been given all of the remains of their loved one. It is an absolute travesty."
The medical examiner's office didn't return FOX 35's requests for comment.
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