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A St Mary family that pretended that a family member had died and staged a funeral in order to scam money from mourners received some serious backlash recently when the plot backfired.
The family who has a teenage daughter who is ill had pretended that she had died, collected money and set a date for the funeral. But when the mourners waited in vain, anger set in and they proceeded to stone the family home.
Reports reaching THE STAR are that the family decided on the con when the teenage daughter fell ill in September and was taken to the St Ann's Bay Hospital where she was later transferred to the Kingston Public Hospital.
It is understood that the eldest son after returning from a visit with his sister in Kingston, planned with his mother and three other siblings to say that their sister had died. The family allegedly planned to use the money to complete a house they were building.
As the news of the teenager's death spread in the community, the mother and other siblings are reported to have put on a show of bereavement.
While the family went through three weeks of funeral preparation and mourning, the community offered financial and moral support.
"The mother was even seen shedding tears and intermittently bursting into loud cries," a source said.
The funeral was planned for October 12 at 1:30 p.m. and reports are that friends and family came from overseas for the occasion.
However, persons attending the funeral are said to have waited patiently at the church for more than three hours. There was no sign of a casket, a minister or any immediate family members.
Eventually, it is is reported that members of the congregation began quarrelling, while some left the church and went to the town centre hoping to see some sign that a funeral would take place.
"Some persons began to speculate that the body had not come from Kingston. Others thought it was the rain that was delaying the funeral," the source said.
One member of the congregation who is said to be a close family friend is said to have decided to go to the 'bereaved' family's house where he overheard the family discussing the con.
"One of the sons was recorded bragging that he can finish his bathroom," the source said. The recording is said to have been taken to the square where most persons had gathered.
The angry residents after hearing the recording are said to have gone to the home and demanded answers. The family locked themselves inside on hearing the angry mob but all hell broke loose when a car with the so-called 'dead daughter' drove up to the gate.
It was then that the crowd began hurling stones at the house and threatened, to burn it down.
Eventually the mother who appeared with a black cloth on her head allegedly told the angry mob that they concocted the story because they had run out of money to finish building their three-bedroom house.
Friends and family who had given money towards the funeral expenses are said to have demanded their money back while the daughter was said to have left the community and has gone to stay with a relative in Kingston.
