Family claims loved one's remains were mishandled by medical examiner's office

TAVARES, Fla. - A family is planning to sue the Lake County Medical Examiner’s Office, claiming it mishandled their loved one's remains.

An attorney for the family of Cedric McFadden has filed paperwork with intent to sue the Lake County Medical Examiner's Office for mishandling remains.

The family of Cedric McFadden says that 19 years ago, his remains were released from the medical examiner’s office to a funeral home; they had a service and buried him. But, his family is now claiming they got a call a few months ago from the medical examiner’s office saying they still had his skull and part of his spine.

"She proceeded to tell me that, unfortunately, she had to tell us that we did not bury all of my brother when we buried him 19 years ago," said Jacqueline Forshee, the sister of McFadden.

McFadden was murdered in 2005, and his body was recovered in a pond.

"Unfortunately, my brother's body was too decomposed. The state of it was not viewable," said Forshee. "It was unreal, to be honest with you. It was a very traumatic experience because he was murdered. So that was hard within itself. So now we're doing this all over again."

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Attorney Ortavia Simon is representing the family in this case. He filed court documents outlining their intent to sue the medical examiner’s office. According to those documents, the family claims the medical examiner’s office failed to use ordinary care and keep all of McFadden’s remains intact when providing his body to the funeral home.

"From my experience with these cases, this is probably by far the most bizarre that I've ever encountered in mortuary litigation," said Simon.

"Not only did it take one year, it took almost 20 years for them to finally reach out and be accountable to this family that they have not been given all of the remains of their loved one. It is an absolute travesty," he continued.

FOX 35 reached out to the Lake County Medical Examiner’s Office multiple times for comment on this story Monday but has not heard back.