SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) – It took seven years but a family can now give their baby a proper burial.
On Tuesday, the MacGregor’s of Sandy were given the remains of Baby Boy MacGregor.
It ended a journey that started eight years ago.
“I have pursued looking for him because he is a part of us,” said the child’s grandmother Alona MacGregor. “He is part of our family."
In 2002, Baby MacGregor was unexpectedly born when Kareena MacGregor who was only 14 years old went to the bathroom.
She put the baby on the window ledge and fainted.
“We didn't know she was pregnant,” said the grandmother. “She didn't know she was pregnant until that night.”
She was charged with murder.
But after seven years of court battles, the charges were eventually dropped.
Meanwhile, the grandmother wanted a proper burial.
But a cremation order was authorized by then District Attorney David Yocum. Holbrook Funeral Home turned the remains over to another mortuary for cremation.
According to the grandmother, the Deseret Mortuary was the last place Baby MacGregor was seen.
State law requires those in charge of the cremation to notify family.
“They knew where we were,” said Alona MacGregor. “They knew who the baby belonged to.”
But she said they weren't notified.
The Utah Funeral Association said it's the district attorneys job to do that.
“The only responsibility the county has is to authorize payment,” said Lohra Millar, the Salt Lake District Attorney. “We expect the mortuaries to follow procedures."
Miller wasn't in office in 2003 but she said the mortuaries did try to reach the MacGregors.
“All we had was the information from the mortuary indicating they had had contact with the grandmother,” Miller said.
The grandmother searched everywhere in hopes of finding Baby MacGregor.
“Everywhere I turned there were roadblocks,” she said.
Last year she found the death certificate and it eventually led her back to Deseret Mortuary.
It turns out the remains were mislabeled
“At a minimum this was done very sloppily and the negligence contributed greatly to the persecution that Kareena and her family faced,” said Abe Bates, the family attorney.
On Tuesday Baby MacGregor was finally allowed to go home.
"He deserves a proper burial, he deserves a place of rest,” said the grandmother. “And Kareena deserves to have a place to put a flower on her grave."
According to the funeral association in 2002 the industry was not required to keep records of those they cremated or buried.
But the state legislature changed that in 2005. Funeral homes are now required to keep those records for seven years.
As for the MacGregors their battles are continuing.
They’ve filed a civil lawsuit for damages. They’ve named the funeral homes, the LDS Church, the biological father and two other young men as responsible.
