A mother in Oregon is facing heartbreak after a court ruling mandated the exhumation of her son’s remains due to a grave mix-up by a funeral home.
Paula Tin Nyo, 62, pleaded with Skyline Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home to let her son Tyber Harrison’s grave remain undisturbed. The overlap occurred when it emerged that a more affluent family had purchased the same burial site years earlier.
Harrison, aged 20, tragically lost his life in March 2016 when he was struck by a truck near his college, the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
In 2021, Tin Nyo secured what she believed to be a newly available plot for her son, a decision that later became contentious, as highlighted in a 2023 lawsuit filed by the funeral home against her.
In a surprising turn, Tin Nyo learned the following year that Martin and Jane Reser, heirs to the $2 billion Reser’s Fine Foods fortune, had actually purchased the plot in 2019 for their son, Alex Reser, according to legal documents obtained by the Daily Mail.
Alex Reser, a 30-year-old accountant, died from a fentanyl overdose on March 4, 2019, after developing an addiction to painkillers prescribed for a college wrestling injury, as reported by Oregon Live. He is laid to rest near his family in the Reser plot.
After discovering the horrible blunder, the funeral home admitted to the error but insisted it had to honor the family that had first purchased the space, court documents read.
In early December, Judge Eric J. Neiman ruled that the plot belonged to the Reser’s and that Harrison’s remains will be exhumed as a result, according to court filings.
Paula Tin Nyo begged Skyline Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home employees not to dig up her late son Tyber Harrison after it was revealed the company double-booked his grave
Harrison, 20, was tragically hit and killed by a truck in March 2016 while walking near the University of Central Florida Orlando
On December 22, after Tin Nyo filed a counterclaim against the cemetery for $17 million, a jury found that although Skyline Memorial was negligent in the overbooking of the grave site, they did not inflict ‘severe emotional distress,’ per court documents.
Prior to the final decision, the funeral home ‘repeatedly’ offered ‘alternative interment rights’ to Tin Nyo, including relocation of the memorial bench that was placed at Harrison’s grave and the vault she added to the site that holds her late son’s baby teeth, hair, and a small amount of his ashes.
Court records stated that because she placed those personal mementos in her son’s vault, she breached her contract with the funeral home, court records stated.
David Williams, Tin Nyo’s husband, spoke for the grieving mother following the court ruling.
‘I think the humanity or lack of it, the cruelty, and someone feeling so entitled that they just wanted that piece of property when someone’s son is already in the ground was sort of unfathomable, and she just didn’t know how to manage that,’ William told KOIN.
‘Paula and her kids will have to sadly process and go through this again,’ he continued.
Tin Nyo was seen in an emotional clip sitting by her son’s gravesite, along with other loved ones, while cemetery workers started the process of exhuming her son.
Williams said he doesn’t understand how anyone could feel that his wife didn’t suffer from the debacle.
In early December, Judge Eric J. Neiman ruled that the plot belonged to the Reser family and that Harrison’s remains will be exhumed as a result, according to court filings. Cemetery staff are seen digging up the grave site
Martin and Jane Reser, scions of the $2 billion Reser’s Fine Foods company, had bought that very plot for their late son, Alex Reser, in 2019
After Tin Nyo filed a counterclaim against the cemetery for $17 million, a jury found that although Skyline Memorial was negligent in the overbooking of the grave site, they did not inflict ‘severe emotional distress’
‘They didn’t think she would suffer. I can’t imagine anyone thinking that she wouldn’t suffer,’ he told the outlet, crying as he did so.
‘I’m sad for those people that think this way.’
The court documents stated that the Reser family, who were only referred to as John and Jayne Smith in the lawsuit, did not want to be a part of the litigation process but were eventually ordered to be.
During the civil trial, Skyline Memorial Gardens’ attorney, Heather St. Clair, made it clear that her client acknowledged they made a mistake.
‘They took accountability for that mistake, they apologized for it, they offered every remedy available for it under the law and the contract,’ St.Clair said. ‘We’re asking you to look at facts over feelings.’
She also turned to Tin Nyo’s actions, adding her son’s unauthorized cremains to the vault. In Oregon, that cannot be done without permission from the cemetery.
Tin Nyo is seen sitting on the bench at her son’s grave before the removal started
Meanwhile, Darian Stanford, Tin Nyo’s attorney, argued that the few ashes she added did not amount to the huge mix-up they caused.
‘How long, after this case, do you think they’ll remember Tyber Harrison?,’ Stanford asked the court, referring to the cemetery.
‘You can speak to Skyline through money, and they’ll remember him.’
After the verdict, Stanford told Oregon Live how shocked he was to hear what the judge decided.
‘In 25 years as a lawyer, I’d say this is as profoundly sad and disappointed as I’ve ever been. Paula and her family deserve better,’ he said.
The Daily Mail contacted Skyline Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home, the Reser family, Stanford, and St.Clair for comment.
