Wrong body buried after mix-up at Georgia crime lab

BURKE COUNTY, Ga. -- A family wants to know who is buried in their brother's grave after Georgia authorities called to tell them there had been a mix-up, CBS Augusta affiliate WRDW-TV reports.

Georgia Bureau of Investigation officials said a body they sent to a funeral home is not who they thought.

Johnny Lowe III, who died in December, is still at the GBI Crime Lab in Decatur, leaving his family wondering who they buried.

As Johnny Lowe's brother Donald Lowe walked around the grave site intended for his brother, he said, "He had paid for this plot, and my oldest brother is right up from him. I just wish they'd know what kind of hurt that they had put my family through."

The GBI Crime Lab is supposed to give families closure by helping figure out how their loved ones died, but Donald said the only thing their family has received is more heartache.

"To know that we have to go through this again and having to bury someone you don't even know," he said, adding that it's all just too much to bear.

Lowe died in December after the Burke County coroner said he fell down some steps. His body was sent to the GBI Crime Lab in Decatur to make sure foul play was not involved.

"They were supposed to find out if my brother was accidentally killed, and then you don't even know to believe them because they can't even find the right person that goes here," he said as he pointed to his brother's grave.

Last week, Donald said someone from the GBI Crime Lab called to tell him they sent the wrong body to the funeral home.

"My brother's been out of the ground for three months in an icebox somewhere in Atlanta, and they had to fingerprint my brother to identify him. Who is this person lying here?" he asked.

The GBI said the man in Johnny's grave is from Clayton County. They believe the mix-up was an issue with properly tagging the bodies at the crime lab.

"They truly don't know who the people are. They're just another number or a tag," Donald said.

The family decided to have a closed casket funeral because the funeral home said the body had started to decompose after the autopsy. But, this time, the family says they want to be sure the man wearing their brother's suit is actually their brother.

"After three months already, I want to identify my brother to make sure he goes where he belongs," Donald said.

The GBI said it will pay for all of the funeral expenses to make sure the right body gets to the right place, but the family said it isn't about the money.

"Could they ever pay for the mistake they made? No, they can't. They can't take back what they've done to me and my family," Donald said.

The GBI said it is going to review its procedure for handling bodies and update it to be sure this never happens again.