Published: 2013 July 07 14:23:10 (5645 Views)

Workers at a Catholic cemetery dumped the body of a would-be nun in a stranger's grave before swiping her metal casket, family members charged Friday.

The sisters of Juanita Scarfia alleged their sibling was mistakenly disinterred in 1989 by careless employees, who then stole her casket.

Relatives spent the next 23 years unwittingly visiting an empty plot in St. Mary's Cemetery beneath a gravestone bearing Juanita's name and the words "In God's Care."

"The whole thing is unbelievable," said a sobbing Nancy Roe, the younger sister of the dead woman. "We're asking, 'Who was accountable? Where is the coffin? Why was my sister dumped like that?'"

"It's not the Christian way, that's for sure."

The discovery of Juanita's missing remains — left scattered beneath the dirt of a nearby grave — was the latest cruel twist for a family dogged by tragedy.

Juanita left the convent in 1970 after falling in love with a priest, according to Roe. The 20-year-old then decided to follow her father into the military.

But while in boot camp in Augusta, Ga., Juanita received a card from the priest declaring he was committed to the church.

The distraught young woman shot herself in the head, dying on Nov. 5, 1970.

Roe and sister Santina Picattaggio decided to relocate their sibling's remains after the heroic death of their brother Michael Scarfia in a September 2012 helicopter crash.

The retired NYPD officer had steered the free-falling twin-engine chopper into a New Jersey cornfield and away from crowded shopping centers.

"Michael had to die to show us what happened," said Roe of her brother. "And then it's relived again. Three tragic deaths."

Roe contacted cemetery officials about moving her sister's remains to the family plot in the other Staten Island graveyard.

She was stunned to learn Juanita's grave held no casket and no body. Officials told Roe that workers relocating two corpses buried one on top of the other had erred, taking only the top casket and then moving Juanita from the adjoining plot.

But a check of the plot where Juanita was reburied turned up no casket, either. When the body was moved, Scarfia was simply dumped and covered with dirt, the suit charged.

"I couldn't believe the chain of events, the disregard for human rights and human feelings," said Roe.

Juanita's military name tag, epaulettes from her uniform, her skull and other miscellaneous bones were finally recovered last December from the other grave.

Roe said there are several scenarios for the still-missing military casket with its brass handles.

"Some have suggested it was scrapped for metal," said Roe. "Some have suggested they resold the caskets. Nobody knows. And nobody wants to know."

The eight-page Manhattan lawsuit seeks unspecified punitive damages from the Archdiocese of New York and the Church of St. Mary on Staten Island.

A spokesman for the archdiocese declined comment, while no one was available at the Staten Island church.


- NYdaily

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