Suit: Woman hoped to scatter her mom’s ashes, but Greyhound lost them

A Chicago woman is suing Greyhound for allegedly losing her luggage, which contained her mother’s ashes, while on a trip to Washington last year.

Jacqueline Fernandez filed the suit against Greyhound Lines, Inc. on Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court; she is seeking more than $50,000 in damages.

On Aug. 20, 2016, Fernandez was a passenger on a Greyhound bus traveling from Chicago to Sunnyside, Washington, according to the lawsuit. She was traveling with an urn containing her mother’s ashes so she could scatter them in the same location as her grandmother.

When the bus stopped in Ellensburg, Washington, she and other passengers on the bus were told they needed to get off and transfer to a different bus, the suit said. Fernandez and other passengers took the opportunity to use the bathroom, but when she returned, the new bus had departed, leaving herself and three other passengers behind. They had not been told how long they had to transfer between buses.

Fernandez had her aunt waited at the bus station in Sunnyside to receive her luggage and the ashes, the suit said. Her luggage never arrived.

Fernandez was told her luggage could have been mistakenly sent to Seattle, but it was not there when she drove to the station, according to the suit. Despite remaining in contact with a Greyhound representative for several months, her luggage, and her mother’s ashes and urn, were never found.

The suit accuses Greyhound of negligence for “losing track of a passenger’s luggage, including the priceless remains of a loved one,” which has caused her significant monetary and emotional harm.

A spokeswoman for Greyhound said the company couldn’t comment on pending litigation