Dad's Ashes Missing: Suit

Two men have filed a lawsuit after cemetery workers couldn't find their father's ashes.

George and Ella Trapp were married for nearly 50 years and were supposed to spend eternity in the  same burial plot in the small and peaceful Mica Hill Cemetery, overlooking the rolling hills of Durham. 

But, after a series of apparent mistakes, George Trapp's remains are missing. 
 
George Trapp passed away in 2001 and his cremated remains were buried in the family plot. 

Ella Trapp died nine years later.  She was supposed to be buried in the same space, but was accidentally laid to rest in a neighboring space. 

When the mistake was realized, the solution was supposed to be simple - dig up the casket and the urn, then bury them together, according to the family's wishes. In all that digging, George Trapp's remains could not be found.
 
"George Trapp’s remains are gone," Jonathan Katz, the attorney for the family said. "They’re missing. They’re out in the world someplace, but no one knows where. And there is no reasonable way of finding them.”
 
The Trapp's two sons have filed a lawsuit that names the town of Durham, which owns the cemetery; the Durham Cemetery Company, a town agency that maintains the cemetery; the caretaker; and Hazelwood Excavating, which dug on the site. 

The Trapp's attorney said all of the entities were negligent in various ways, and this could have been avoided with proper management.
 
"If you go into the hospital now, they check about five times who you are before you go into surgery, because, that way, they don’t make mistakes," Katz said. "It’s the same thing, except you’re dealing with the mortal remains of people rather than live people.”
 
All of the parties named in the lawsuit and their attorneys were either unavailable for comment on Tuesday night or would not comment on the case.

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