At 11:18 PM 1/29/03 -0500, Jon Gabriel wrote:
Woman Who Got Leg in Mail Sues for Anguish Wed January 29, 2003 08:50 AM ET HOUSTON (Reuters) - An Alaska woman, shocked to receive part of her dead father's leg in the mail instead of the gourmet "LobsterGram" she was hoping for has filed suit against the Houston firm that sent it, alleging mental anguish, people involved in the case said on Tuesday.LaMara Lane wants $1 million for breach of contract and the mental anguish that beset her after opening what she thought was a food gift delivered to her home in the Alaskan town of North Pole, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court.
While I agree that many articles are too long to quote in their entirety (not to mention the copyright issue), there is also the problem of leaving _too much_ out, such as: why would _anyone_ (other than a doctor or a mob informant) be getting a frozen leg -- particularly that of a family member -- in the mail?
<<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2131909>>
Woman Who Got Leg in Mail Sues for Anguish
Wed January 29, 2003 08:50 AM ET
HOUSTON (Reuters) - An Alaska woman, shocked to receive part of her dead father's leg in the mail instead of the gourmet "LobsterGram" she was hoping for has filed suit against the Houston firm that sent it, alleging mental anguish, people involved in the case said on Tuesday.
LaMara Lane wants $1 million for breach of contract and the mental anguish that beset her after opening what she thought was a food gift delivered to her home in the Alaskan town of North Pole, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court.
But Identigene Inc., which does DNA testing, said it was only following orders from a North Dakota judge when it shipped the leg to Lane late last year.
"We have a court order that says send it to this place and this woman," Identigene President Caroline Caskey told Reuters. "I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone."
The odd saga began in early 2000 when George Semmens died in North Dakota. He left his $200,000 estate to Lane, who was his only child, but whose mother he never married.
A sister of Semmens challenged whether Lane really was his daughter, which resulted in a North Dakota judge ordering that his body be exhumed for DNA testing.
A leg bone and samples of Semmens' body tissue were sent to Identigene, where tests confirmed that Lane was his daughter.
Tony Buzbee, a lawyer for Lane, a 41-year-old teacher's aide married to a hunter and trapper, told reporters the leg was supposed to be cremated, but was sent to her by mistake.
It arrived in a container designed to keep the contents cold, which led Lane to believe she had been sent a LobsterGram, a popular gift in the frozen north, said Buzbee.
Buzbee, who did not return phone calls on Tuesday, told the Houston Chronicle that Lane was so shocked "she's had to store the bone and flesh in her neighbor's freezer."
"She can barely talk about it without crying," he said.
Caskey said Identigene had hired a lawyer to contest the lawsuit.
© Copyright Reuters 2002.
--Ronn! :)
I always knew that I would see the first man on the Moon.
I never dreamed that I would see the last.
--Dr. Jerry Pournelle
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