MCDONOUGH, Ga. -- A local family says they don't know whose ashes they received at their mother's memorial service.
Patricia Bradley passed away at Southern Regional Hospital on Sept. 26. She was 69. Her family said they contacted Speer-Shelton Funeral Home to have Bradley's body cremated.
Three days later, a memorial service was held for Bradley, and her family said they were handed what they were told were Bradley's ashes.
Two weeks later, Bradley's daughter, Regina Wynn, said she received a call from the hospital. They asked her when she planned on having her mother's body picked up for cremation.
"I said, 'Excuse me....we had a memorial for her on the 29th, we have my mom's ashes, what are you talking about'," Wynn recalled.
Bradley's family still doesn't have her ashes, the family's attorney, CK Hoffler, said at a news conference on Monday, and they still don't know whose ashes they do have.
"That means that that family has someone else's ashes," Hoffler said. "And then whose ashes do they have?"
Hoffler said "there are a lot of open questions" that the family seeks answers to.
11Alive contacted Southern Regional Hospital, who released a statement saying:
Official records and documentation reveal that Southern Regional Medical Center released the proper remains to the funeral home. Furthermore, Speer-Shelton Funeral Home has verified receipt of the correct remains from Southern Regional.
Attorney CK Hoffler has been informed of the verification that the correct remains were provided to the funeral home. Southern Regional offered to provide CK Hoffler information and documentation exonerating the hospital but they declined. If Attorney Hoffler continues to implicate the hospital and knowingly provide false and defamatory information, Southern Regional Medical Center will seek legal action.
Hoffler countered, however, saying family had not been provided any paper trail documenting what happened with Bradley's body. She said the last contact she had with the hospital was a letter from Dec. 20, which Hoffler claimed did not mention any documentation.
11Alive also reached out to the Speer-Shelton Funeral Home multiple times in the past several days for further clarification, however no attempts to get a comment were successful.
Meanwhile, Hoffler said the family intends to file ligation. She said they held a press conference on Monday because "we think there's another family not in possession of their loved one's ashes."
"This is a public interest issue and there could be other families impacted," she said.
She said the family would also like to return the ashes to its rightful owner.