On Day Of Beloved Father's Funeral, Long Island Family Says They Learned Someone Else Was Buried In His Plot
WEST BABYLON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- The family of a decorated military man who died days ago is outraged over an alleged burial mistake.
On the day of his funeral, relatives say they found out their loved one's plot was given to someone they don't know.
"I seen an empty pit, filled with somebody else's body," Steven Rubin told CBS2's Cory James.
That is not what Rubin expected to see Thursday, but it's what he and his grieving family say they faced when they showed up to Beth Moses Cemetery on Long Island to properly say goodbye to their loved one Jack Krimsky.
"He was a wonderful man," Rubin said. "He was supposed to have military honors."
The 100-year-old World War II vet's daughter Roni Rubin says her father's funeral was ruined before it even started.
"The funeral director from the chapel called me out, and she said, 'They buried somebody in your father's grave yesterday. We can't do the funeral,'" Roni Rubin said.
She says it does not make sense how this happened because her family spent about $300,000 over the last 50 years for 18 plots in one area.
"There's a huge family plot. We have a headstone with names on it," she said.
To make matter's worse, Krimsky's son Dr. Jeffrey Krimsky, who flew in from Florida, is also dealing with the loss of his wife. He will now have to miss his father's funeral and religious tradition.
"We need to sit Shiva. That's a very big thing, and we can't because it's only after the burial. I have to go back to Florida, so I won't be attending the funeral," he said.
CBS2 reached out to the cemetery via phone and email but did not hear back.
The Krimsky family left grappling with not only the heartbreak that comes with losing a relative but also added pain after finding out their plot was taken.
"They had to take him back from Long Island to New Jersey to put him back in a refrigerator. Do you know how I feel, that my dad is in a refrigerator?" Roni Rubin said.
The family says the health department now has to get involved so that the body in their plot can be removed. Still, they don't know when that will happen and when their loved one, an Army Air Corps sergeant, will be laid to rest.
