ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. – On the same day, the state Division of Funeral, Cemetery and Consumer Services ordered First Coast Funeral Home and its sister company Beaches Memorial Park to stop doing business, a local family says it was required to pay $3,490 if it wanted to bury its mother the following day.
“They were told everything was in order, so why 4 hours prior, do they need to cough up $3,490,” explained Sarah Carter, owner of Sarah Carter Funeral Home. Carter, who was hired by the family to perform the funeral services, is not affiliated with Beaches Memorial Park/First Coast Funeral Home and has no control over the actual burial. She said the family had to drive out the night of their mother, Ella Mae Dillard’s, viewing to deliver a cashier’s check to John Rayan, husband of the cemetery’s owner, Amanda Rayan.
“We had until the close of the business day to get the money here (to Beaches Memorial Park) in order for the service to go forward,” explained Carter who said the family was devastated and upset. She said they had been told all week that everything was in order, but suddenly were now being told the afternoon before the burial, that the family had to pay $995 for Dillard’s plot and another $2,490 for the opening and closing of the grave.
They could not understand why, since Carter said the family told her John Rayan had explained, earlier in the week, he would use the family’s insurance money to cover the cost of Dillard’s plot. The family said they had already paid the man who typically digs the graves, referred to as opening and closing, at the cemetery, $300. Now they were being charged $2,490 for that service and to bury the vault.
Carter said she does not understand how Rayan could demand money from the family on the same day, the state ordered him and his wife to stop conducting all funeral service business.
I-TEAM: State suspends funeral home's license
According to a report obtained by the I-TEAM, an inspector with the state Division of Funeral, Cemetery and Consumer Services, discovered a decomposing body inside a broken refrigerator in the Rayan’s office building in Atlantic Beach. It was found during a surprise inspection Thursday. The body had maggots inside and according to a hospital ID bracelet on its wrist, the person had died May 4th.
Owner Amanda Rayan told the inspector, the body had been delivered in its current state, even though, the inspector noted in his report that the body had been transported to the Rayan’s funeral home the day the person had died. The report does not indicate if the body was that of a man or woman, but did say that family had authorized their loved one’s cremation a day after he/she died. That was more than 60 days ago.
Despite, the gruesome discovery which the inspector described as a danger to the public, the state told the I-TEAM it would allow the Rayan’s to conduct Ella Mae Dillard’s burial at the cemetery, Saturday. A spokesperson told us Friday night, “we have received personal assurances from the Rayans that the burial planned at the cemetery tomorrow (Saturday) will proceed without delay.”
No one from the state attended the funeral, the I-TEAM was there and there were no delays. The family was too upset to speak with us, so we do not know if it plans to take any action to try to recover its money.
We have received more than 70 complaints since our first story aired. The state has now assigned a team of investigators to look into Beaches Memorial Park/First Coast Funeral Home. It is using information from our stories to open new cases against the business.
Many of you have called the I-TEAM concerned about existing pre- need contracts, or other services that have not yet been delivered by the business, you can call the state to inquire about what happens now, 1-800-323-2627.