A devastated Oregon mother could only watch as her 20-year-old son’s grave was dug up after a funeral home double-booked it, in an incident the family described as “unfathomable.”
Family and friends gathered at Portland’s Skyline Memorial Gardens on Tuesday as Taber Harrison’s grave was dug, while his mother, Paula Dinnio, begged funeral home workers to stop digging, KOIN reported.
The mother purchased a vault in 2021 to store her son’s baby teeth, hair and other mementos. Harrison was struck and killed by a truck in 2016 while walking near the University of Central Florida, where he was a student at the time.
However, the land was sold to Martin and Jane Reser in 2019 for their son Alex Reser, who struggled with drug addiction and died of an overdose that year at age 30, Oregon Live reported. He was buried near the Reiser family cemetery, according to media reports.
“Paula and her children will sadly have to go through this all over again,” Dineo’s husband David Williams told KOIN.
An Oregon mother reportedly had to watch her son be reburied after a funeral home double-booked a plot (Google)
Skyline Memorial Gardens acknowledged the mistake but said the first purchase must be respected. The issue was disputed in court, and the cemetery filed suit in 2023 seeking an order allowing Harrison to be evicted.
Court documents show the funeral home offered to refund Tin Nyo’s $16,000 payment and rebury the vault a few feet away, but she didn’t respond, Oregon Live reported.
Meanwhile, Tin Nyo countersued for $17 million. A Multnomah County civil jury found in December that while the funeral home was negligent, the accidental double auction did not cause “serious emotional distress.”
“I think it’s a little incredible that the human nature, or the lack of it, the cruelty, and the fact that someone would feel entitled to just want that piece of property when someone’s son is already in the field, she just didn’t know how to deal with it,” Williams told KOIN.
“They thought she wouldn’t suffer. I can’t imagine anyone thinking she wouldn’t suffer. I feel sorry for those who think that,” he added through tears.
The funeral home reportedly argued in court documents that Tin Nyo violated the contract by placing his late son’s ashes in the grave, which is not allowed.
Court documents also state that the Reser family does not want to participate in the lawsuit, saying they were ordered to join the lawsuit brought by Skyline against their will.
Skyline Memorial Park said in a statement, “Out of respect for the privacy of those we are honored to serve, we will not comment in this manner.”