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Woman Wants $5 Million for Hole in Daughter’s Casket



Janine Karvia of Tacoma is suing the Odd Fellows Cemetery in Dalles, Oregon, for $5 million because of a hole in her daughter’s coffin. The 3-month-old child, McKenzie, died of a bacterial infection in November 1996. The casket was cracked when workers were laying an underground pipe and according to Karvia’s complaint, the hole allowed the coffin to fill with dirt, eventually “desecrating her daughter’s remains.”



Karvia suffers from heart problems and as her condition worsened, she decided earlier this year to have her baby’s body disinterred so that she could cremate the remains and keep them until her own death, after which her daughter’s ashes would be mixed with her own. The mother learned of the damage when McKenzie’s coffin was exhumed last month. “I got to open up a box of dirt,” she told The Oregonian. “It’s just a rolling nightmare for me,” she insisted. “I have horrible dreams. ... It’s so wrong. Shame on them. It’s heartless.” She also said she wanted to see McKenzie’s little pink casket and remains one last time for closure.





A cemetery worker explained to Karvia (shown above with McKenzie) a PVC pipe was installed across the foot of the casket to make way for an irrigation system. According to the lawsuit, the pipe appears to have been placed within the last several years.



Though a mortuary employee who sifted through the dirt for two days was able to recover some of the baby girl’s bones, Karvia wants the cemetery to pay for its carelessness and failure to protect her daughter’s remains.



The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Portland attorney Michael Fuller is representing Karvia.



A cemetery representative declined to comment on the lawsuit. The cemetery is also known as the Columbia Lodge No. 5 Cemetery.



Sources: Aimee Green, The Oregonian, October 15, 2019, and Louis Casiano, Fox News, October 15, 2019.