SAN DIEGO — The body of a prominent San Diego man, allegedly misplaced by a local mortuary, has finally been located.
Sidney Cooper, who died more than two decades ago, had been nicknamed "The Mayor of Imperial Avenue," and recognized for helping to grow Juneteenth celebrations here in San Diego.
Last month, his family sued Greenwood Memorial Park and Mortuary after they discovered his remains and casket were not in the family's burial plot.
"For 22 years, the family has been praying to an empty grave," said Eric Dubin, the attorney for Sidney Cooper's family. He confirmed that months after it was discovered that Sidney's body and casket were not in the cemetery plot the Coopers had purchased thirty years ago, they have finally been found.
"They put him in the wrong hole without the right container," Dubin told CBS 8.
In March, Sidney's widow Thelma passed away.
As the couple's daughters were arranging her funeral, expecting their mother to be buried next to their father at Greenwood Memorial Park & Mortuary, they received the shocking call from Greenwood's management that Sidney's body and coffin were missing.
CBS 8 spoke with the Cooper's daughters last month.
"This is a nightmare that we are living day to day for 24 hours a day," said Shelly Cooper.
"Now it makes me mourn even more, because now my mother is in her grave by herself," said Shelly's sister Lana.
The Cooper's attorney said that the ensuing media attention led to action by the mortuary.
"They finally listened to us and looked for him and found him nearby in a grave that was unmarked and supposed to be empty," Dubin told CBS 8.
To make matters even worse, the family's attorney says that the expensive waterproof burial container that the Coopers had paid for decades earlier was never provided.
"We were there when they opened the casket and found Mr. Cooper in this horrific condition," Dubin added. "The casket, his body, the military medals that are with him are all eroded and water damaged."
CBS 8 has reached out to Greenwood for comment, but has not yet heard back. They previously pointed out that Greenwood was under different ownership and management 20 years ago, when Sidney Cooper was originally buried.
Sidney Cooper's family has said that it's especially hurtful that a man so well-respected in the community, helping to popularize Juneteenth here in San Diego, would be treated so disrespectfully after his death.
The Cooper family and their legal team, still have questions.
"I want to know why the Cooper family didn't get this waterproof container, and how many other families fell victim to that kind of bait and switch," Dubin said.
Sidney Cooper's body is expected to finally be buried in its rightful place -- next to his wife's -- on Saturday morning.
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