RICHMOND, Va. -- A Richmond family said that for three weeks their loved one's body has been in the morgue while they have been struggling to come up with money to bury him because he had no insurance.
After getting past being able to identify his body, they turned their attention to raising money for a funeral through crowdfunding.
However, the family said they were stunned to learn someone else beat them to it.
"Never can say what a person won’t do. I hope her intentions were good. I pray her intentions were good," Clifton Steed said.
Steed was referring to a woman, a stranger to his family, who created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to bury his brother-in-law, Harry S. Fogg, III.
Steed said when his family set up their own GoFundMe account to raise money for the funeral, they realized another one had already been established.
His family was very upset because they were not in the loop.
"Nobody made calls to get permission from the family. We didn't know her, so that seems a little confusing," Steed added.
GoFundMe campaign for Harry S. Fogg III.
They became more uneasy when they saw photos, which the family gave to WTVR CBS 6 News a few days ago when Problem Solvers featured Fogg's story, along with a written description on the woman's GoFundMe page.
That campaign, which collected no donations, was created an hour before the one Steed's family set up.
The family's fund is called "Harry Samuel Fogg, III Homegoing."
"It’s a fund to bury my brother-in-law. That’s the main issue. Don’t know if it’s what she’s trying to do, but it is what we are after," Steed explained.
On its website, GoFundMe has a link where you can report a campaign that you believe is fraudulent.
While Steed is not accusing her of that, he just wishes his family would have been informed.
"Well, I hope it is done in an honest way. If it is, she went about it the wrong way. First, she should have contacted the family, and if she couldn’t contact us, she should have contacted WTVR because that’s where she got her information from," Steed explained.
WTVR CBS 6 sent a message to the woman who created that account and she responded Thursday evening. She apologized and said that she created the account because she simply wanted to help.
A spokesperson for Go Fund Me also contacted Problem Solvers and explained that no money was collected for that woman's campaign.
He said after the inquiry, and the company realized the family had started their own campaign, the donation campaign the woman created was suspended.
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