Elizabeth Patrick had hoped this Remembrance Day would bring closure to her nearly decade-long search for her estranged father's grave. Instead, she is now negotiating with Service Corporation International (SCI), a major U.S. funeral services company, after discovering that her father's grave was empty during a disinterment at Green Acres Cemetery near Winnipeg earlier this year.

Sgt. Gordon Patrick served as a glider pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He spent his later years in Winnipeg and passed away in 1973. Due to a lack of family in Canada, he was buried without a headstone. "No veteran should be left in a grave with no headstone and no marker, no memorial, no nothing," Elizabeth Patrick stated during a Zoom call on Thursday.

In May, Patrick, who resides in England, arranged for the excavation of her father's grave to relocate his remains to a cemetery in Ontario, where her son is buried. However, upon excavation, the grave was found to be empty. Initially, Patrick had a positive relationship with SCI, which even agreed to waive the estimated $9,000 cost of the excavation. However, communication has since slowed, particularly after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police conducted ground-penetrating radar searches in June to locate any trace of her father.

On July 30, Patrick received a letter from SCI's legal counsel stating that due to the time elapsed since Sgt. Patrick's burial and the limited records from the cemetery's previous owner, locating his remains was unlikely. SCI offered to pay for a custom headstone but insisted it would be installed in one of their cemeteries, which Patrick found unacceptable. "Their position was, 'We'll pay for the headstone, but we'll install it in one of our cemeteries,' which obviously defeats the purpose of me going to this effort of finding my father," she explained.

In addition to the headstone offer, SCI proposed $2,500 for damages. Patrick countered with a request for an undisclosed amount to cover the costs of moving her father, damages, and legal fees. She noted that her request was significantly less than a previous settlement of $12 million paid by SCI to another family for lost ashes. However, SCI's legal counsel responded that the company is not liable for the missing remains, as they were buried before SCI acquired the cemetery in 2006.

The email from SCI's counsel stated, "Given the changes in ownership and organizational history of the prior owners, Green Acres holds no liability." It also described Patrick's demand as excessive and indicated that there was no productive conversation to be had at that settlement figure.

A Winnipeg lawyer, Troy Harwood-Jones, commented that SCI's liability could depend on the specifics of the sale of the cemetery. He noted that if SCI purchased all shares of the previous company, they could be held accountable for its actions. He also mentioned that the Manitoba Cemeteries Act might impose liability on SCI for failing to maintain proper records.

Despite the challenges, Patrick remains hopeful that SCI will make a reasonable offer to help cover the costs of a replica headstone in Ontario and provide her father with a proper veteran's burial. "I'm just hoping that we can get past this last hurdle because it is Remembrance Day," she said. "He was never remembered. He was never honoured. He volunteered from the time he was 14. And he just needs to be recognized and honoured like every veteran."