Local World War II Hero Has Yet To Be Cremated, Months After Death
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sacramento-area woman has been waiting almost six weeks to lay her father to rest, but the cremation center says they are backed up.
Beth Samford says she just wants closure after her father, World War II veteran Richard Edgington, died in January at a skilled nursing facility.
"I was daddy's girl and it's been awful," said Beth.
Her father was a combat veteran who fought on D-Day. In January he died at a skilled nursing facility. He was 97.
But months later, she says she doesn't know where her father's remains are.
"I feel kinda like I'm losing him again," said Beth.
After her father died, she called The Neptune Society, a Sacramento cremation center, for their services. The crematories are owned and operated by Neptune or their affiliates.
They helped Beth with her mother's cremation when she passed away in 2012.
In January, she was told there was a backlog related to more COVID-19 deaths.
But months passed, and after multiple un-returned calls and emails, she learned her father still hasn't been cremated, and she can't get a straight answer why there is a delay.
CBS13 went to the Neptune Society to see what is behind the delay and spoke with the director who told us she couldn't comment on the wait and whether it is connected to COVID-19.
"I think about him laying there in a cold room for weeks and it's a lot. It breaks my heart," said Beth.
She says she won't stop until she can give her father the proper sendoff.
"He was a tough guy and I hope I can make him proud by trying to fight for him, because he deserves that," she said.
Beth says she's paid the $2,000 to cremate her father and the facility has cashed her check.
CBS13 reached out to the California Director Funerals Association who tell us there were cremation delays both in the Central Valley and Southern California related to COVID-19. During high rates of death, they say the entire process can be delayed longer then 30 days.
