Family Furious After Mother's Body Is Cremated In Bronx Mortuary Mix-Up

UPDATED 03/25/16 12:21 a.m.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A funeral home mistake in the Bronx this week left a grieving son shocked to find another woman in his mother's casket.

As CBS2's Brian Conybeare reported, there was another family involved in the mortuary mix up, one whose loved one was cremated by accident.

"It was just heartbreaking," Donald Little said.

He lost his mother on Christmas Day.

Annie Little, 82, was a retired nurse fighting breast cancer and kidney disease.

Her death was only the beginning.

"It makes me feel like I'm living in a nightmare," Little said.

He went to McCall's Bronxwood Funeral Home, but in a tragic mix up they sent his mother's body to the wrong funeral and then the unthinkable happened.

"The next day they cremated her. And my family don't believe in cremation. I don't believe in cremation," he said.

The funeral home admitted what happened in a letter obtained by CBS2, which read, "Please accept my apologies for mistakenly having your mother Annie Little cremated."

In a tragic sense of mistaken identity the mortuary confused Annie Little with Val-Jean McDonald.

The McDonald family held an open casket funeral at a church in Harlem and thought cancer and a long hospital stay changed their mother's appearance.

But when Little and his daughter saw the photos they knew something was wrong.

"We both looked and we were like, 'That's not my mother,' and my daughter was like, 'That's not my grandmother," he said.

For the first time, the owner at the Bronx funeral home has spoken out in an exclusive interview with CBS2, publicly apologizing to Donald Little.

"We're extraordinarily sorry for what he experienced," James Alston said.

Alston admitted that his workers made a terrible mistake, and that they have changed the procedures because of it.

"Ordinarily we use a toe tag on the deceased, but now we have also included a wristband -- so this could never happen again" he said.

It does nothing to change what happened to Annie Little.

"I wanted to view my mother and send her off on some peaceful terms. Instead she got burnt. It's just heartbreaking," Little said.

Horrible for both families involved.

Donald Little is planning to sue the funeral home. The McDonald family told CBS2 they are still grieving and coming to grips with what happened.