CHICAGO (WLS) — A family says their loved one was left at the Cook County morgue for six weeks because their name was misspelled.

“My son didn’t deserve to lie in that morgue,” Ruthie McKinnie said. “I mean, it’s so disrespectful.”

McKinnie and her family are furious with the Cook County medical examiner’s office and Chicago police because her son, Kelvin Davis, was in the morgue for six weeks and they had no idea.

The family said they started calling the medical examiner’s office a few weeks after Davis disappeared.

“I described him as being very tall, 6’4″ with freckles, and having a very distinctive appearance,” said his sister Deborah Smith. “She said, ‘We don’t have no one of that name here.'”

So they filed a missing person report with the police.

“Thank God he had a tattoo of ‘Mommy Love’ in big black letters on his arm and otherwise I would never have found my little boy,” McKinnie said.

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Police alerted the medical examiner and realized Davis’ body had been there the entire time. The problem was that Kelvin Davis had been entered into the medical examiner’s system under the name Kevin Davis.

According to a police report, when Davis was found June 3 at a friend’s apartment, the friend, who police said was a reliable source, gave them the name “Kevin” and not ” Kelvin.”

“It’s like you have to think about the fact that this person can have a family and someone who loves them and cares about them,” Smith said.

The ME’s office responded to the family’s concerns about the communication issue by saying, “we extend our deepest condolences to the family.”

They continued: “Our staff would not have seen Kelvin F. Davis in our system and would not have been able to cross-reference his date of birth.” Davis did not have any identification on him at the time of his death.

The medical examiner also said it “relies on investigative agencies to notify the next of kin of the death of their loved one, but if the next of kin is not found within 10 days, the MOE makes every effort to reunite with the family. They added that the office was working with police to match fingerprints.

CPD told the I-Team that fingerprints were taken at the time of death, but came back to other names. Police said since they were given the name “Kevin” at the scene, that was the name they gave at the coroner’s office.

In 2021, the I-Team talked about another family who called ME for nearly two months looking for their missing loved one. He was there the whole time and even had ID on him.

As a result of this report, the ME took disciplinary action and the Cook County Office of Inspector General investigated, finding failures and violations. The ME adopted the IG’s numerous recommendations to approve the communications.

In the Austin neighborhood, Ayanna McFadden said she waited a month to receive a call from the medical examiner, revealing that her son Malcolm’s body was there the whole time after he died falling onto the railroad tracks green of the CTA. He had identification on him at the time.

“I love my son and I miss him,” she said. “But I know he’s not coming back.”

The ME said, “Our deepest sympathies go out to the McFadden family” and told the I-Team that Chicago police had not located Malcolm’s family, so they conducted a database search. data and “found a provisional next of kin”. The coroner left a voicemail a day after his death for Malcolm’s brother, not his mother.

Like many people today, his brother said he didn’t recognize the number. So he decided not to answer the call and saw the message weeks later.

“I want people to be held accountable for the actions they took because it’s not right,” McFadden said.

Both mothers said the process made their grief even more distressing.

“Everyone has someone who loves them and I love my son,” McFadden said.

“You have to change the system to help us; this is serious,” McKinnie said.

The medical examiner’s report says Davis died of cardiovascular disease. The Davis family said they are still fighting for change to improve communication at the medical examiner’s office. The family also filed complaints with the county board chairman, lawmakers and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.