Settlement Reached in Case of Michigan Body Dumped in Landfill
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If losing a family member was not already traumatic enough, imagine the nightmare of having the body of your loved one disappear from the funeral home you have entrusted with the remains. Worse yet, what if the body was picked up by a waste hauler and then buried in the local landfill. For the Jordan family of Holland, Michigan, this movie-like nightmare became a reality in January 2006 when the body of Erwin Jordan was picked up from the Notier-VerLee-Langeland Funeral Home by waste hauler Priority Arrowaste. A suit brought by the family against both the funeral home and the waste hauler, was recently settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. While the details of the settlement are bound by a confidentiality agreement, the Jordan family attorney, Jules Olsman, described the settlement as satisfactory.
The Jordan family filed a lawsuit after Priority Arrowaste, who was collecting recyclables from a garage at Notier-VerLee-Langeland Funeral Home, accidently collected a white box in the process. The box, labeled “Jordan,” contained the remains of Mr. Jordan. His body was being stored in the garage for space reasons, which the funeral home would occasionally do in the winter months. Jordan’s body was being stored while waiting for the family’s authorization to have the body cremated.
The remains of Mr. Jordan were found missing the morning after they were picked up. After two days of searching at the Autumn Hills Landfill, police, with the help of cadaver dogs, failed to locate the remains of Mr. Jordan.
Businesses Argue Over Liability
The family sued both businesses, seeking more than $1 million in damages. The funeral home and waste hauler filed cross claims against each other, trying to shift the blame of the mishap. The court ruled that Arrowaste was excluded from liability to the family, but not from its contract with Notier-VerLee-Langeland. The main part of the argument was whether the white box containing Mr. Jordan’s remains was within a few inches of recyclables in the garage, as Arrowaste claimed, or on the opposite side of the garage, as the funeral home claimed.
The two companies and Jordan’s family reached a settlement through mediation. Regardless of the settlement, or who is actually at fault, Mr. Jordan's body remains in the Auburn Hills landfill.
The original article can be found in the Grand Rapids news.