Local

Melbourne cemetery mix-up leaves woman scrambling to bury mother

MELBOURNE, Fla. — A Brevard County woman is dealing with a funeral nightmare after the city of Melbourne mistakenly told her she could bury her mother on a plot to which she didn't have the rights.

Kelly Davidson was initially given word by the city that her mother Paula had a plot at the Melbourne Cemetery.

She found out on the way to the burial that her mother didn’t have the rights to the plot.

Davidson had planned to bury her mother right next to her twin brother, having paid someone to dig the site, only to get a call 30 minutes before she got there for the burial that there was a mistake.

Davidson helped her mom battle through cancer a few years ago. She said Paula was tough and that she never expected her mom would suddenly pass away.

“I got a phone call she was in the hospital. She’d had a heart attack,” Davidson said.

That was two weeks ago.

For years, Davidson was under the impression her mom had a burial plot at Melbourne Cemetery, and a phone call to the city confirmed that.

“I knew she was going to be buried at the cemetery. We went to the cemetery and they told us, ‘yes, this spot is for my mother,’" said Davidson.

She worked with a local funeral home and made plans, with family coming in from out of state.

The burial was set for last Tuesday, which is when she got the phone call.

“It's been tough. I mean, everybody came down and then to find out she's not even being buried. So they all had to leave and go back,” she said.

The city admitted it made a mistake. It had records from 2014 at City Hall in the clerk’s office showing another part of the family is also laying claim to the plot—and no one could be buried until that settled.

But the Parks and Recreation Department that oversees the cemetery didn’t have all the records, and gave the go-ahead to bury Paula.

Kelly is now stuck scrambling to make other arrangements while her mother's body remains at the funeral home.