On April 1st 2008, Miguel Olaya, a 60 year old New York resident, hired DeRiso Funeral Home, a Brooklyn funeral home, to ship his late wife’s body (Teresa Olaya who died of pelvic cancer at age 57) to Guayaquil, Ecuador for burial. Miguel arrived at the airport to find out that the coffin was missing from the flight. Initially he was told that the body was in Miami FL but later it was found out that it had gone to Guatemala.
Culprit?
Funeral director Kathleen DeRiso claims that someone at American Airlines punched the wrong airport code. Instead of GYE for Guayaquil, they entered GUA for Guatemala.
Also, Miguel claims that the when he received the body after 4 days, the body was badly decomposed since it was not properly embalmed. Though American Airlines refutes the claim.
I personally think that the airline should be more careful. Misplacing luggage is one thing, but misplacing a body is unacceptable. I wonder is the airlines “could” do anything to the person who did such a big mistake?
I there daughter. And no kidding
Laura,
Thanks for visiting the website. I am sorry for the loss and the mishap.
Thank you. Now is gonna be a 2 years since my mother is gone. And their is no answer
The DeRiso Funeral home is a reputable establishment for over 50 years. Its clear that Americn Airlines is at fault concerning this matter. How can American Airlines act so irresponsibly. My heart goes out to the Olaya family.