SAN ANTONIO – The bodies of two San Antonio women who died 10 days apart in November were switched by Mission Park Funeral Chapels and Cemeteries, according to separate lawsuits filed by the women’s families.
The women are identified as Catalina Cervantes, 85, and Mary Lou Salinas, 88.
Attorney Mark Greenwald, who represents the Salinas family, said that cases of this nature are a traumatic experience for families.
”All clients I’ve had are horrified,” he said. “They just don’t know what to do because they’re in a different universe.”
“In every funeral home case that I’ve handled, the trauma that’s inflicted on the families is always severe, horrific and lingering,” said Alex Katzman, who represents the Cervantes family.
A lawyer for the funeral home released the following statement:
“We learned yesterday that some publicity-seeking contingent fee lawyers leaked a lawsuit to the media that has yet to be served on our company. This attempt to exploit two separate families began when one family misidentified the remains of their mother. An open casket visitation and service with this family followed without incident.
Later, inconsistencies led us to reach out to the second family for a positive identification. Once it was confirmed that the first family’s identification was incorrect, we took immediate action to reunite the families with the correct remains the next day.”
The lawsuits are seeking damages in excess of $1 million.
2021-01-25-FS-Salinas POP by David Ibanez on Scribd
2021 01 25 FS Cervantes POP by David Ibanez on Scribd