Tacoma woman sues cemetery for damaging daughter's casket

PORTLAND, Ore. — The mother of an infant who died in 1996 is suing an Oregon cemetery for damaging her daughter's casket and not informing her.

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Tuesday that Janine Karvia has filed a $5 million lawsuit against Odd Fellows Cemetery in The Dalles, east of Portland.

The lawsuit says workers broke a hole in one end of the casket in which the 3-month-old had been placed when they laid underground irrigation pipe near the grave site.

The lawsuit says the casket filled with dirt, "desecrating her daughter's remains."

It was not immediately clear when the work occurred.

The Tacoma, Washington, resident says she learned about the damage in September when she disinterred her daughter's remains to have them cremated.

A representative of the cemetery declined to comment on the lawsuit.