By admin 
MESA, AZ (AZFamily) — A family is questioning how a Mesa hospital released the body of a father and husband to a funeral home they never selected. Two months later, they are still waiting for answers.
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Raymond Wood Jr. died July 9 at age 54. His wife of 32 years, Leslie, and his stepson, Everett Williams, wanted to hold a funeral service so loved ones could see him one last time.
Wrong funeral home picks up body
The family contacted several mortuaries before selecting one. They then called HonorHealth Four Peaks Medical Center in Mesa to coordinate arrangements.
Leslie Wood said a representative told her she did not know Raymond’s whereabouts, but later discovered that Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services in Mesa had already picked up the body.
“She tells me she didn’t know his whereabouts. She did not know where my husband was,” Leslie Wood said. “She starts digging around and she says, ‘Oh, Advantage picked him up, the one you chose.’”
The family said Advantage picked up Raymond’s body on a Saturday afternoon without their consent. When the family called Advantage to find out what happened, an employee acknowledged the mistake.
“She said, ‘I apologize. This should not have happened. We will schedule transport immediately to get him to the mortuary of your choosing. You will not be charged for this transport,’” Leslie Wood said.
Embalmed without dentures
Leslie Wood said Raymond had already been embalmed without his dentures by the time the mix-up came to light.
“That man never went without his teeth. I didn’t even see him without them,” she said. “They took everything away from us. I feel like him and I was disgraced.”
When she asked for an explanation, none was provided.
“They just said, ‘Sorry, this should not have happened,’” she said.
Hospital, funeral home respond
In response to questions, Advantage Funeral & Cremation Services wrote that it does “not discuss specific client matters with the media.”
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HonorHealth wrote that “based on the information available at the time,” it “arranged for the transfer to a funeral home.” In response to follow-up questions, the hospital network added that “our process is to work with the family in a situation like this.”
The family chose cremation so Raymond’s remains could remain close, but they say questions remain about how the breakdown occurred.
“I took care of everything for that man, and at the end of life I had no say-so over my husband,” Leslie Wood said.
Complaint filed with state
The family filed a complaint with the Arizona Department of Health Services, which regulates funeral homes across the state. The agency told Arizona’s Family Investigates that it cannot comment on open inquiries.
A spokesperson for Advantage said the state agency investigated the complaint and found insufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations.
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