(WXYZ) — Gregory and Connie Haywood were married on paper for nearly 10 years. He says they had a complicated marriage and no longer lived together but he says they always kept in touch.
Connie died on Aug. 31. Gregory says he found out days later while he was working in another state.
He says he flew home to make burial arrangements but couldn't find his wife's body until he did a Google search.
TONIGHT: This man (on the right) says his wife was cremated after a man went to a funeral home impersonating him.
— Rudy Harper (@RudyHarperWXYZ) October 24, 2019
“If they just would of check for some credentials... My wife did not want to be cremated. She wanted to be buried next to her grandmother.”
We have both sides. pic.twitter.com/pkG0C9I2fd
This is when the story becomes a bit complicated. Connie was cremated at the Mann's Family Funeral Home in Livonia.
Hillary Gentry, the funeral home director, says a man came in and claimed he was Connie's husband and made the final arrangements.
This man was not Gregory and not Connie's husband.
The director said the man paid for the funeral service but never picked up the ashes. Gentry says the funeral home operated their business "on the pretense that everyone that comes in is truthful."
Gregory has now hired an attorney.
The mystery man, Gregory says, is a friend of Connie's. He adds that his late wife wanted to be buried next to her grandmother, not cremated.
Gregory hopes by speaking out no other family will have to go through this.
