A body was mistakenly released for cremation by the Aiken County Coroner’s Office, resulting in an irreversible error that has prompted an internal review and official reporting to multiple oversight agencies.
The incident occurred on Monday when a staff member at the coroner’s office misidentified a decedent and released the body to a funeral home. The body was then cremated before the mistake was discovered the following day, according to a press release.
Coroner Darryl Ables confirmed the incident and has since reported it to the Aiken County Attorney’s Office, the South Carolina Coroners’ Association, the South Carolina Funeral Directors’ Association, and the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.
“This incident is very unfortunate, and we are deeply remorseful to the family of the decedent,” Ables said in a statement. “Accurate identification and verification at intake and release are critical to the process for all agencies involved, and we accept full accountability for our portion of the incident. I will conduct a thorough review of this incident to determine exactly how the error occurred and to ensure that it never happens again.”
The release of a body involves a multi-step verification process, including an intake and release log that must be signed by both the agency receiving the body and the coroner’s staff member releasing it.
The coroner’s office did not say how the error occurred within that process but said the full review will focus on those procedures.
No additional details about the identity of the decedent or the funeral home involved were released.
The press release:
