A father from Texas was shocked when he discovered the wrong body in his son's casket. The family later learned that their son was already cremated, with the authorities admitting to having switched the bodies of Davis Brady, 22, and Kyle Betts, 36.
According to Newsweek, Brady and Betts were found lifeless in an apartment by police in an apparent overdose in April 2021 in Jacksonville, Florida. The Brady family decided to embalm their son's body a few days later, while the Betts family opted for cremation. However, when the Bradys discovered a different body in the casket, it was too late for them to get Davis's body back as he was already cremated as Kyle Betts.
How did the switch happen?
While the Sheriff's Office Incident Report described each victim, families of the two said the entries were incorrect or incomplete.
The documents indicated that authorities listed their strawberry-colored hair, complexion, and built as the same. Authorities stated the weight of the other one, but the weight information was missing on the other one.
When the body was transported to the Medical Examiner's Office, Betts was listed as case number ending in -65, while Brady's completed in -66.
Both families believed that the clothing descriptions for their sons proved that their identities were reversed. Kyle Betts, for example, always wore a Jaguar hat as the family said he was an avid Jacksonville Jaguars football fan.
"They had them switched right away from the very beginning," Betts said. The autopsy that happened 24 hours after the log-in receipt indicated that someone switched the case numbers for each person.
Months later, it was also reported that the toxicology report stated that the original case numbers were reversed. In the original digital version of the documents, the number appears incorrect. However, someone marked the information by crossing the name on each man's documentation and writing the other man's name in the column near the case numbers.
At the viewing, after the Medical Examiner sent their bodies to their respective homes, the Brady family noted that the body did not have the right hair color, beard, and complexion as that of their son.
They frantically called Bett's family in Florida and informed them of the switch.
Gone too soon
When the Bett family received the call, they called the funeral home right away to cancel the cremation. However, the funeral home told them that Davis Brady's body had already been cremated.
The more painful thing is Davis Brady's family is from the Mormon church, and cremation is against their religious belief. Brady's mom said they never got to see their son's body as it was only ashes that were turned over to them.
Authorities confirmed the mix-up. Betts told Fox30JAX that officers did not ask the families to identify the bodies. Thus, both families are puzzled about how police could have identified the bodies. They are now exploring the possibility of filing a case against Jacksonville Sheriff'sOffice and the Medical Examiner's Office District IV in Florida for the unfortunate incident.
