Florida Hospital Loses Newborn's Body, Sued By Baby's Parents

A Florida couple has sued a hospital for allegedly losing their newborn child’s body.

The baby’s parents filed a lawsuit against St. Joseph's Hospital in July for "negligent handling of a body and infliction of emotional distress." The family is seeking $30,000 in damages.

The lawsuit obtained by Fox 13 on Friday, Aug.7, stated that Kathryn and Travis Wilson welcomed their son at the hospital on Feb. 25. Three days later, the baby died at the hospital. Following the death, the hospital contracted a company to transport the baby’s body to another hospital for autopsy.

Following the autopsy, the remains were brought back to the hospital in a body bag which was then left in the morgue. The hospital then called the baby’s parents on March 5 and informed them they had the body. The hospital asked the family to go ahead with funeral arrangements. However, on March 10, the hospital called the parents and informed them that they could not find the body of the boy.

The remains are still missing and the cause of death was not mentioned in the court papers.

In a statement to Fox 13, the hospital said, "Since first learning that Jacob Wilson’s remains were missing, St. Joseph's Hospital has investigated all avenues and fully cooperated in all search efforts in the hope that they could be found."

"Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the Wilsons for the loss of their child. We also deeply regret not being able to account for the remains. St. Joseph’s leadership and all personnel in our morgues are committed that this unforeseen situation will not happen again," the statement added.

In another incident in April, a Detroit man said it took Sinai-Grace Hospital several days to locate his mother’s remains after she died from COVID-19. The woman, identified as Caroline Pollard, died after battling the deadly virus inside the hospital for three weeks. Following her death, the hospital allegedly lost her remains. Several days later, the woman’s body was found.