Funeral Home in St. Maarten Sends Back Wrong Body to Family of American Vacationer

Demanded a $7,000 wire transfer to release the body in the first place

Rhode Island resident Lisa Kondvar remembers her mother as a beautiful, small and vivacious blonde.

So she was shocked to see the body of a tall brunette woman lying in the open casket at her mother's wake in New Jersey on December 9.

Right away, the tears and the crying stopped. Kondvar and her family immediately closed the casket and left the room, she said.

"It wasn't mom," Kondvar said. "They sent us the wrong body."