Nova Scotia family horrified to learn they buried a stranger’s remains

COLDBROOK – A Nova Scotia woman says she doesn’t know who her family buried eight years ago after the new owners of an Annapolis Valley funeral home recently revealed that her father’s remains were still in storage.

“We aren’t certain what to do, but know that someone may be missing the displaced remains of a family member,” Amanda Sabean said in a text message Tuesday. “Our father didn’t deserve the error, and storage like some sort of dusty (collection of) books.”

Sabean said her family buried what they were told were the cremated remains of her father Hendrik (Hank) Sabean in an urn alongside other late family members in Weymouth, N.S., during the spring of 2018. 

Last week, her sister received an email from the home’s new owner, East Coast Memorial, which announced in February that it had acquired the assets of the Serenity Funeral Home.

When the family was asked to pick up Hank Sabean’s remains from the funeral home in Coldbrook, N.S., Amanda Sabean’s sister thought it was an error. But she was assured the home had the man’s actual remains.

“So, we may have buried someone else,” said Amanda Sabean, whose family is scheduled to retrieve her father’s remains on Wednesday.

She said the family is waiting for the results of a Service Nova Scotia investigation to find out what legal obligations they may have, realizing the remains they buried may need to be handed over to someone else. 

The incident was first reported by CBC.

Meanwhile, other families have been contacted about the remains of their loved ones.

Kristina Sweeney’s 60-year-old mother, Elizabeth Pelton, died in 2023 and her ashes were buried in 2024. Sweeney said East Coast Memorial recently contacted her to say they had found a portion of her mother’s remains in storage. 

Sweeney said the remains were in an urn, affixed with a handwritten note with her mother’s name. Sweeney said she was told there were dozens of other urns in storage.

“I expressed to (the funeral director) that I was pretty confused … My mind was going, ‘What happened when I walked away from that burial site?’” Sweeney said in an interview Tuesday. 

Sweeney said she is considering a class-action lawsuit. 

Anthony Facey, Serenity’s former owner, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

East Coast Memorial’s president, Andrew George, said in an email Tuesday that the company has been working through a “significant number” of stored cremated remains, some of which have been there for many years. 

He said the company is reaching out to families to ensure their loved ones can be laid to rest appropriately. 

“We greatly appreciate the families understanding that East Coast Memorial was not responsible for the original arrangements or the historical handling of these remains,” said George. 

“And we do not want to speculate about decisions or practices that occurred before our involvement. Our focus now, as it always will be, is on what we can do today to help these families,” 

The provincial minister responsible for the file, Jill Balser, said her department is working with East Coast Memorial to understand what happened.

“We take this very seriously, knowing that families and individuals have been impacted by this,” Balser said Tuesday outside the provincial legislature.

The former Serenity Funeral Home made headlines in December 2017 when the family of a recently deceased woman arrived for a visitation at Serenity’s location in Berwick, N.S., only to find the body of another woman in the coffin.

When it became clear to staff that there had been an error, the family was presented with a second body that was also unrelated to them.

 The provincial regulator launched an inquiry and later revoked the licence of funeral director David Farmer. The inquiry found Farmer did not check the written identification of two bodies.

In response, the provincial government introduced legislative changes, including a requirement that all funeral homes and crematoria label human remains at all times while in their custody. Other changes included increasing fines from $500 to a maximum of $25,000 for individuals and up to $300,000 for businesses.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2026.

— By Devin Stevens in Halifax with files from Lyndsay Armstrong.