In Baltimore, Maryland a widow is suing a funeral home for lying about cremating her late husband. She said they buried him upon request of a second woman who claimed to be his wife.
Ivan Street, Demetra's late husband, passed away of congestive heart failure on January 9, 2021. The widow had a service for her husband at the Wylie Funeral Homes in the same month.
Street claims after the service, the funeral home workers took the urn away and would not let her take it with her. The Washington Post reports Street doesn't think the ashes are in the urn at all.
The Washington Post reported:
"Demetra went to the funeral home on Jan. 13, identified Ivan's body and provided her marriage certificate to prove she was next of kin."
"Street then entered into a $2,500 contract for Ivan's cremation and a memorial service with the funeral home."
Shortly thereafter, a second woman who has not been identified claimed to be Ivan's wife. According to the lawsuit, she produced a certificate of marriage without an official seal.
She insisted Ivan be buried, not cremated.
Ivan and Demetra Street were legally married in 2016 and were in the process of divorcing since 2018 but were unable to complete the process before Ivan's passing.
When the other woman claimed to be his wife, the funeral home notified Street about said claims, which she told the funeral home to ignore. However, the funeral home decided to bury Ivan anyway.
Allegedly after Street complained to the owner, his response was:
"So, what are you going to do about it?"
Then the funeral home decided to decline the other woman's attempts to bury Ivan and follow through with Streets' plans for cremation.
However, the day of the memorial they did not allow her to see the urn after the completion of the service. Street claims they had already buried Ivan three days prior at the request of the other woman claiming to be his wife.
The lawsuit states:
"[Despite Street's] repeated requests that she receive Ivan's ashes, Defendants refused to allow her or anyone else to obtain the ashes or to see the funerary urn once the Memorial Service had concluded,"
The Baltimore Sun reached out to the owner of the funeral home, Brandon Wylie.
Wylie said:
"Due to restrictions imposed by our confidentiality requirements and the existence of pending litigation, we are not at liberty to disclose all of the information relevant to this matter."
"However, we vehemently deny the claims advanced by Ms. Street and assert that the underlying matter was handled with the utmost sensitivity toward the loved ones of the deceased."
Street claims they performed two services for the money they charged both women.
According to the lawsuit, the other woman wrote to Ivan's remembrance page on January 20:
"To the memory of my beloved husband, you were my best friend."
"The many loving memories I have of the [time] we shared will forever comfort me in your absence..."
"You will be sorely missed my love."
Demetra Street is seeking $8.5 million in damages.
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