Body Is Exhumed in Mistaken-Identity Case
The body of a young woman who was laid to rest under a grave marker with someone else’s name on it was exhumed for another burial after a heartbreaking case of mistaken identity.
A public works crew in Gaylord removed the casket holding the remains of Laura VanRyn from the Fairview Cemetery plot where the parents of Whitney Cerak had buried her, thinking the young woman was their daughter. Cerak had actually survived an April 26 crash in Indiana that killed VanRyn and four others from Taylor University.
VanRyn, 22, will be given a private graveside service by her parents within a few days and will be reburied near relatives in Grand Rapids Township, about 180 miles away.
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