Family sues funeral home, alleges wrong body buried in LI cemetery

LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (PIX11) – A Long Island funeral home is being sued for $60 million over claims that the wrong body was buried in a plot meant for another man.

The lawsuit alleges that the family of Clifford Zaner entrusted Star of David Chapels, Inc. to arrange the transport of his body from South Carolina to Mount Ararat Cemetery in Lindenhurst following his passing on Feb. 25.

The funeral home then hired Fletcher Funeral and Cremation Service, which is also named in the lawsuit, to transport Zaner's body.

When the body arrived in New York, the children of Zaner told the funeral home that it was not their father, according to the suit. The suit claims an employee of the funeral home convinced the family that the body was indeed their father's and they proceeded with the funeral.

Stacy Holzman, one of Zaner's children, said in the suit that she received a call from the funeral home telling her the body buried in the Zaner family plot was not their father's and his body was still in South Carolina.

Zaner was finally laid to rest in Florida on March 24.

"The most disturbing thing about this case is that the family pointed out the error and a Star of David employee pretended to confirm that the body was in fact Clifford Zaner," said attorney Phil Rizzuto, who is representing the family.