A Florida couple alleges St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa lost the body of their newborn son, who died three days after this birth, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Kathryn and Travis Wilson accuse the BayCare Health System hospital of negligence and reckless infliction of emotional distress. They seek more than $30,000 in damages.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that the lawsuit states their son, Jacob, was born Feb. 25 and died Feb. 28. St. Joseph's hired a transportation company to take his body to Orlando Regional Medical Center for an autopsy. The body returned to St. Joseph's on March 5 and the family began preparing funeral arrangements. On March 11, someone called the family to say the baby's body was missing. It still has not been located.
In a statement cited by the Tampa Bay Times, BayCare said the hospital has "investigated all avenues and fully cooperated in all search efforts" to find the body.
"Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the Wilsons for the loss of their child," the statement said. "We also deeply regret not being able to account for the remains. St. Joseph's leadership and all personnel in our morgues are committed that this unforeseen situation will not happen again."