Anguished wife says airline lost her dead husband's body

A woman from Mexico is suing Continental Airlines - for losing her dead husband's body.

Yes, you read that right. We've heard of airlines misplacing luggage, and even pets, but we've never heard of anything like this.

Martha Elen Flores Cura and her niece, Ludivina Rivera, claim Continental Airlines lost the remains of her common law husband, Humberto Rivera. The incident happened while moving his casket from Atlanta to McAllen airport in Texas, say reports in the Monitor.

A lawsuit has now been filed. The family's lawyer, Javier Villareal, told the paper: 'The family was obviously very upset. Not only do they have to deal with the loss of their (relative), but these guys were looking for the body to see what happened to it after it was delivered.'

Rivera claims she hired a man to pick up her uncle's body at McAllen airport and drive it to Monterrey for the funeral. His body was meant to be flown on 21 August, 2009. But the hired driver was told by the Atlanta funeral home where Rivera's body was held that the flight had been postponed by three days.

When the driver met with a Continental representative the day before Rivera's remains were due to be flown, he was told that someone else had already picked up the body. The lawsuit claims that 'Continental advised (the driver) that the body was missing and that it was not Continental's problem.'

The hired driver filed a report with local police on 24 August -three days after the original flight.

Twelve hours later, Rivera's remains were located at a Brownsville funeral home and were returned to Continental.

The family's lawyer, who refused to disclose the amount being sought in the suit, said: 'You can imagine the toll that would be on a family where a loved one was supposed to be delivered. It's very disturbing.'

A hearing is set for June 2011. Continental declined to comment.

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