The family of an 11-year-old boy who was struck and killed by lightning last year is dealing with another tragedy.
The News-Press of Fort Myers reports the family of Jesse Watlington moved from southwest Florida to Orlando in July to get a fresh start after he died during football practice.
Jesse was buried in southwest Florida and the family decided to have him interred closer to their new home.
When we were living here in Fort Myers,” Chuck Watlington was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "We were visiting the cemetery every single day.”
But when Chuck Watlington arrived at Fort Myers Memorial Gardens on Wednesday to exhume his son's body, what he saw shocked him.
The burial vault lid shattered when they tried to move it. Inside, the white casket was sitting in muddy water. Water had seeped into the casket as well, and workers had to drill holes so it could drain.
"Today's disinterment was conducted with the same dignity and respect we provide all families,” general manager Donnell Sullivan said in a statement. “When disinterment occurs, lifting and transportation proves difficult. When a replacement must take place, it is our policy, and the policy of most in our profession, to do so at no cost to the family.”
