Dead but not buried: NJ funeral home kept remains for 31 years, lawsuit says

MIDDLETOWN — For 31 years Debbie Uraga has dutifully visited her father's grave site on his birthday, holidays and Father's Day.

But it turns out his cremated remains were sitting on a shelf in the basement of the funeral home that handled his arrangements, according to a lawsuit.

George Jonas, an Army veteran, died on May 16, 1993. The John F. Pfleger Funeral Home of Middletown was to inter his remains in the family's plot at Mount Olivet Cemetery next to St. James Church in Red Bank, according to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Union County.

Two days after Father's Day this year, Uraga received a Facebook message from the Cremains Chair for the organization Vietnam Veterans of America looking for permission to inter her father's remains at the William C. Doyle Veterans Cemetery with full military honors, according to the lawsuit.

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Reliving her father's death

Uraga went to the funeral home and was given the remains, forcing her to relive the loss of her father, the lawsuit states. Her complaint seeks an unspecified amount in damages.

"We look forward to helping Ms. Uraga enforce the right to have her late father properly interred in hope of salvaging some sense of peace and closure for Debbie and her family," her attorney, Michael Shaw, said on his Facebook page.

The funeral home told CBS New York that it attempted to contact the family about the remains. It never heard from them until the veterans group reached out. Uraga called their explanation "false" and said she lives five minutes from the funeral home.

The funeral home on Monday afternoon did not respond to New Jersey 101.5's request for comment.