OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. – Imagine burying your loved one and then you get the rest of their remains months after the funeral. That’s what happened to the family of Darlene McKenzie.
It’s even tougher when you consider how long they waited for answers while she was missing.
“This is what they brought. I have never opened it. They have it marked; they have their case number on there. I can’t even tell you what bones are in there,” said Carlita Ransom.
Ransom said the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office said the bones belonged to her mother, Darlene McKenzie, and they’re inside a box with her case number and the words ‘Long bones from DNA’ on it.
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“My mom was a missing victim, at the age of 16. She ran away from home and she came up murdered in Farmington Hills. She was found in a field by a worker,” said Ransom.
Local 4 has covered this story several times before, but this part of the story has never been told until now.
“This is a part of her body. It’s her body parts. They act like it was something small," said Ransom.
Ransom said her mother was killed and her body was found in 1975 in Farmington Hills. About 40 years later, in 2015, Ransom said Farmington Hills police reopened the "Jane Doe" case and identified her as Ransom’s mother.
Ransom said the body wasn’t released to the family until Feb. 2017, that’s when they buried her.
“A month or so later, the medical examiner drives out to the funeral home and says we have more body parts,” said Ransom.
Ransom said it wasn’t until last week, that she was able to physically and emotionally pick up the remains of her mom at the funeral home. Now she’s left with mixed emotions and questions.
“What do you want me to do? What am I supposed to do with her?” said Ransom.
The Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office released the following statement:
“The Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office helped provide closure to the family of Darlene McKenzie by exhuming and identifying her remains through DNA testing four decades after her body was found in Farmington Hills. Darlene McKenzie’s remains from exhumation to re-burial were handled with dignity and care. In fact, the Oakland County M.E.’s Office went above and beyond its duty when it worked with the cemetery to provide a burial at no-cost and located a funeral home to donate a casket and marker to the family who did not have the means to pay for the reburial.
In circumstances beyond the control of the Oakland County M.E.’s Office, an out-of-state DNA lab sent Darlene McKenzie’s DNA bone samples back to the Oakland County M.E.’s Office after she was reburied. The Oakland County M.E.’s Office delivered the DNA sample bones to the funeral home. The family did not pick up the DNA sample bones until over a year later.”