Posted on 08/04/2025 6:44:12 AM PDT by Red Badger
You just can't make this stuff up.
When Lawrence and Abbey Butler's 56-year-old son, Timothy Garlington, passed away in Georgia, they had his remains returned to Pennsylvania for burial. The shipping funeral home was Southern Cremations & Funerals at Cheatham Hill, and the receiving funeral home was Nix and Nix.
It's probably a standard procedure for folks who die away from home.
[Fair Warning: from this point forward, this story has a gross factor of 10/10.] What's not so standard is that at some point in the process, someone removed Garlington's brain from his body and put it in an unmarked cardboard box among his personal items, which were then handed over to the family.
The family is suing both funeral homes for the emotional trauma this action caused.
Usually, I would say that, while things that cause emotional trauma are terrible mistakes, we're too lawsuit happy in this country, and emotional trauma isn't something that should be awarded financially.
But in this case, well, let's just say I'm feeling a little differently.
The Butlers' attorney, L. Chris Stewart, said at a news conference,
‘Several days later, the red box, which was in the Butlers' car, began to smell and leak fluid, Stewart said. When Lawrence Butler picked it up, the fluid covered his hands, which was brain matter. It's insane.'
Lawrence Butler said that they had to get rid of their car because of the smell, and that now, their final memories of their son are of that awful red box.
Stewart said he had consulted other funeral homes, and that at no point in the process is the brain ‘separated from the body in that fashion and shipped in that fashion'. If it ever is, he said, then it is in a sealed bag and labeled as a biohazard.
According to NBC Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania funeral home insists they did nothing wrong. They back up the lawyer's comments that when a body is shipped to them, it's usually intact, and personal effects usually do not contain body parts.
They also said state inspectors have cleared them of any wrongdoing.
The Georgia funeral home has so far stayed mum on the subject.
But the Butlers' lawyer maintains both funeral homes are at fault:
There's no excuse, there is zero excuse for this type of error to happen. For the Georgia funeral home, Southern Cremations, to ship unmarked, bio-hazardous material. For the funeral home here in Philadelphia to hand the parents an unmarked box, not examined, not listed as part of the inventory that was the personal items, and to not check it. They have not received a single apology to this day from any funeral home.
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This is a really sick story - and I laughed way too hard. Oh my goodness, the picture of Brad Pitt from Seven did it.
“someone removed Garlington’s brain from his body and put it in an unmarked cardboard box”
Abby Something...
It sounds like someone at the funeral home didn’t like someone in the family, or it was a very unhappy employee looking to cause the funeral home embarrassment.
I guess someone figured the family wouldn’t mind a little bit extra of their son.
Still, sounds like someone really screwed the pooch here.
I have to laugh ... because I don't want to cry. Or vomit.
Did the son agree to have his body turned over to a local medical school for study?
A friend’s daughter is in medical school now, and her class is now doing dissection of a recently deceased person, so such is not uncommon. I was told the body is returned to the family after 3 days.
The Crematorium is most at fault for not burning that up with everything else. Someone made a huge error in judgement to ship that “calamity” to the the funeral home for no reason. Probably, no one thought to take a good look
Same thing with the funeral home. Lack of due diligence, careless and lazy results unceremoniously dumped on the elderly parents of the deceased. And yet, neither even bothers to apologize! Incredible.
This sounds like a made up clickbait story.
I was surprised someone had not already posted it.
Maybe I’ve been listening to too much classic rock recently, but first thought that came to mind was an album by ELP, “Brain Salad Surgery”.
There was an incident back around 2001 or so where a Georgia cremation facility was not cremating bodies, but simply sending boxes of ashes to the families and stacked the bodies around the rural facility like cordwood.......
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-State_Crematory_scandal
The rules on transporting remains are very strict. You can’t even take cremated ashes across the border without a license. So if you move to a new state, don’t just pack up granny’s urn with the other furniture!
Being in a military oriented section of the country, Gulf Coast, many families opt for cremation.
One notable thing is lots of the deceased want their ashes spread out in the Gulf where they enjoyed boating, fishing, skiing, etc. during their lives here.
You have to apply for local permits and state permits and federal permits to do so.
However, there is at least one pilot that I know of, probably several, who will secretly fly out over the Gulf and spread the ashes for a small fee..................
The EPA officers sent to investigate the property discovered a skull and some bones that were human in origin.
The place was run by pirates, obviously.
Or Yale grads..............................
Brain removal happens during an autopsy. It’s not something most people know. They are usually “stuffed” back into the cavity.
My guess is the funeral home staff was on vacation and they had the “B” team working that day.
So…it might be understandable that it could happen. But, it certainly shouldn’t have happened. I feel bad for the family.
Wow, this is a legitimate story. More details at this link.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/veteran-brain-box-lawsuit-b2796633.html
“The owner of Nix & Nix Funeral Homes said that his team didn’t know that the box contained brain matter and noted that the state board did a thorough investigation and cleared them of wrongdoing.”
Anyone ever hear of cremation remains containing anything except ashes? They remove all sorts of things from the ashes, pacemakers, teeth, gold fillings, joint replacements, dental implants, ...... I’ve seen small pieces of bones in the ashes, but not much more.
Here is the AI on it
Guidelines for Transporting Cremated Ashes
Traveling by Air
Airlines: Most airlines allow cremated remains as carry-on, checked luggage, or air cargo. Check specific airline policies.
TSA Requirements: The container must be scannable. Use a lightweight, non-opaque container. Carry necessary documents like the death certificate and certificate of cremation.
Shipping Cremated Ashes
U.S. Postal Service: The USPS is the only carrier that can ship cremated remains. Use their special Cremated Remains shipping supplies (BOX-CRE) for both domestic and international shipping.
Documentation: Required documents include a death certificate and certificate of cremation. Ensure the destination country allows shipping of remains.
Traveling by Car
Transporting by Vehicle: There are no specific regulations for transporting cremated remains by car. Ensure the urn is in a secure, sealed container to prevent spills or damage.
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