- A family in Rochester, N.Y., learned the person they had cremated was not their missing loved one after she was seen alive in Detroit.
- Police initially said Shanice Crews died of a drug overdose.
- The family now plans to seek legal representation.
A New York family is fuming after learning that the person they had cremated was not their missing loved one, and that she is still alive.
Shanita Hopkins told Rochester station WROC-TV on Thursday, April 17, about the ordeal her family has gone through since discovering the person they have been mourning for years is not deceased.
Hopkins’ sister, Shanice Crews, had not been seen or heard from since July 6, 2021. Crews was 28 years old at the time and had two children.
In April 2024, police alerted Hopkins and her family that Crews’ remains had been found that February.
An autopsy at the time said Crews died of a drug overdose, with high levels of cocaine found in her system.
Despite not having heard from her sister in years, Hopkins didn’t believe the circumstances surrounding Crews death.
“Reading the autopsy was traumatic,” Hopkins told the news station.
“It’s one thing to hear it, but then it’s another thing to actually read it, and then [to see] her name is attached to it.”
The family wondered if Crews truly died from an overdose or if she was unknowingly laced with a drug. “Your mind just goes crazy,” she added.
Because the body was extremely decomposed, the family did not view what they were told were Crews’ remains. Instead, they had the body cremated and held a memorial service for her.
In November 2024, things took another upsetting turn.
Hopkins received a random message from someone she’d never met before. That person shared a recent photo with Crews.
“Ma’am I’m concerned, your sister is not dead. She just volunteered at my event today,” the stranger wrote, attaching a photo along with the message.
After contacting the police, Hopkins was redirected to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office, who assured her that Crews’ dental records matched the body they had cremated.
The conflicting accounts weighed heavily on the family’s mental state.
“We dealt with the ashes and stuff, we put them in necklaces and we mixed my mom with this stranger,” Hopkins said.
She continued, “You can’t take back the moments where the cop came and told us Shanice Crews has been found dead outside, like trash. You can’t take away them initial feelings … we can’t get that back. We can’t get them seven months back. We can’t get them tears back.”
Hopkins said the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office has since offered to pay the family for the cremation and funeral, however Hopkins said they are choosing to lawyer up instead.
“I almost feel like they couldn’t find out who this was and they wanted to close a missing person’s case,” she told the news station.
When it comes to Crews, Hopkins said while their family “can’t force her to talk to us,” she does have a message for her sister.
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“I love her. I’ve been angry for — I’m still angry, I don’t think I’m ever gonna get over the anger but I know how it feels to think that she was dead,” Hopkins said. “I just want her to know that whatever we had going on, it doesn’t even matter. I love her, that’s it. That’s all I would want her to know.”
The Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment, but issued the following statement to WROC:
“The Monroe County Office of the Medical Examiner uses industry standard scientific methods to identify remains of deceased individuals in a timely manner and make appropriate notifications to families. Due to restrictions on the disclosure of information contained in the records of the Office of the Medical Examiner, we are unable to comment on specific cases.”
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