LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Just days after several agencies began investigations into conditions at a southern Indiana funeral home, a family has now filed a lawsuit.
The family of Nicole Lorey has filed a civil lawsuit against Lankford Funeral Home and owner Randy R. Lankford citing negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
On Friday, 31 bodies were found at the funeral home with some in the advance decomposition stage. Many who did business with the funeral home felt “heartbroken” and said they “were taken advantage of.”
Lorey’s family said she died on June 14 which was her 34th birthday. Her remains were sent from Elizabethtown, Kentucky to the funeral home for cremation, according to court documents.
The family said they tried to contact the funeral home for several weeks to get Lorey’s ashes but was met with excuses, the lawsuit states.
Lankford allegedly told the family the cremation had taken place, but the urn had not arrived at the funeral home. Without that, he allegedly told them he could not release the remains.
They believe Lankford engaged in fraud and breaching his duty as a funeral home director and with that, his actions “resulted in the international infliction of emotional distress to them.”
Investigators said that Lankford had been cooperating and speaking with police about the bodies.
Others have also contacted the funeral home about the remains.
The funeral home is currently shut down as the investigation continues.
The bodies and ashes recovered from the funeral home are in the possession of the Clark County Coroner’s Office.
They are working with Jeffersonville police to determine the identities and contact those relatives.
If you have entrusted the care of your loved one with the funeral home, you are asked to call the coroner’s office at (812) 285-6535.
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