Donna Woman Says Hole Was Not Dug For Her Brother's Burial
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NEAR EDCOUCH – A Rio Grande Valley woman wants to know why her brother could not be buried as planned this weekend.
It's been a tough week for Donna resident Ofelia Flores. She lost her 80-year-old brother, Norbert Izquierdo, last Thursday.
Flores says her brother was her role model, a great student and a military veteran. He collected items such Elvis memorabilia. Flores says she was crushed when he finally lost his long battle with cancer.
"It's very hard to find out when you lose a loved one and it's close to the holidays. It is very hard,” she tells CHANNEL 5 NEWS.
The family came out to pay their respects at Izquierdo’s funeral on Saturday. Flores says the service went well at first.
"We went to the church and, after the church, we get to the cemetery and there's no hole dug for him to be buried," she explains.
Flores says her family was visibly upset Izquierdo could not be buried. She says her family began calling around to see why the city of Elsa did not come to dig the hole in the Anahuac Community Cemetery.
The family got no response.
"That made me very, very angry because after he battled cancer, it was not fair for him to receive all of this," she adds.
Later that day, family members contacted a family friend who arrived with the machinery to dig the hole for the proper burial. Flores says she and other family members have tried to contact the funeral home she did business with, but have yet to receive a response.
"I'd like justice and, at least, a partial refund to the family," she says.
CHANNEL 5 NEWS went straight to the group in charge of the burial, L&I Funeral Home in Elsa.
The owner of the funeral home agreed to speak with us off camera. He says Flores' family members told him last week they had made the arrangements themselves with the city of Elsa to dig the hole.
He says he called to confirm with Elsa that city crews were on their way on the morning of the funeral. But the offices were closed due to the holidays.
However, he admits he did not call on Friday when offices were open to confirm with the city. Therefore, he is willing to negotiate a partial refund with Flores in the next two weeks.
Flores says she is happy with the idea of a partial refund for her family. She says she will stop by the funeral home in the coming days to discuss the details with its owner.
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