Moments after a New Jersey woman's body was lowered into the ground, a funeral director allegedly made a shocking admission: The wrong person had been placed in the casket.
Almost as soon as the casket was lowered, it was brought back up, the family of 93-year-old Kyung Ja Kim alleges in a $50 million lawsuit against Central Funeral Home of New Jersey, Blackley Funeral Home and Cremation Services Inc. and two individuals, Bongho Ha and Haemin Gina Chong.
Kim died Nov. 10, 2021, and a funeral was scheduled for Nov. 13. The lawsuit alleges Kim's daughter, Kummi Kim, told the funeral director hours before the burial during a viewing that the person in the casket did not resemble her mother.
The lawsuit alleges the funeral director "responded with a very clear expression of denial and dismay over the question as if Plaintiff Kummi did not appreciate a different appearance after death."
Kummi Kim then accounted for the possibility of the embalming process and the application of heavy mortuary makeup, fake hair and some kind of filler, such as Botox, for her late mom's "altered appearance," according to the lawsuit.
During the elder Kim's funeral service, the funeral director allegedly texted and called another client's family — that also had the last name Kim — asking about their deceased family member's "identifying features," the lawsuit states.
The family sent multiple photos of their loved one during the funeral, and "it was later revealed to the plaintiffs" that it was that person's body that was presented during Kim's funeral, according to the suit.
But the casket was still transferred from the church to the cemetery, and lowered into the ground before the funeral director directed cemetery employees to lift the casket out of the ground — confirming the family's suspicions.
The person buried in Kim’s casket was 20 years younger than Kim, NBC New York reported, and had their own teeth, while Kim wore dentures, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims funeral home employees placed the dentures under the pillow in the coffin — with the wrong body inside — and that the body had been dressed in Kim's clothing, adding "to the shock and disgust over the mishandling of the decedent’s body."
The family also alleged Ha and Chong acknowledged that the funeral home had not informed the other family about the mix-up during a meeting on Nov. 14.
Central Funeral Home of New Jersey, Blackley Funeral Home and Cremation Services Inc., Ha and Chong did not immediately respond to requests for comment from TODAY.
After the mistake, the family held a "makeshift funeral" on Nov. 14, but the family told NBC New York they were not able to fulfill her "final wish" of being sent off in a New Jersey church surrounded by family and friends.
"I feel very sad and angry that we couldn’t accomplish her final wish, that she wanted to say bye to us at the church," Kummi Kim said.
The funeral home verbally apologized to the family, NBC New York reported, and offered to refund the fees, which totaled $9,000, according to the suit.
But the lawsuit alleges the family “suffered great shock, emotional distress and psychological pain and hurt upon learning that the passing of their mother was not properly celebrated but that the body of a stranger was wearing the decedent’s clothing and personal effects and placed in her coffin in error,” as a result of the funeral home not following their own policies to identify bodies.
Kim's family is suing the funeral home for loss of right to interment, negligent infliction of emotional distress, intentional infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract and battery, which is related to the mishandling of the body of the deceased.
If the family wins the lawsuit, they plan to donate the money to two churches their mother deeply cared about, NBC News reports.
