A man sat in a Cook County morgue for six weeks because his name was misspelled, his family says.

CHICAGO (WLS) — A family says their loved one was left in a Cook County morgue for six weeks because his name was misspelled.

“My son didn’t deserve to be in the morgue,” Ruthie McKinney said. “I mean, it’s so disrespectful.”

McKinney and her family are furious with the Cook County medical examiner and Chicago police because her son, Calvin Davis, was in the morgue for six weeks and they had no idea.

The family said they began calling the medical examiner’s office several weeks after Davis went missing.

“I described him as very tall, 6-foot-4, with freckles, very distinctive looking,” sister Deborah Smith said. “She said, ‘We don’t have anyone here with that name.’

So they filed a missing person report with the police.

“Thank God he had a tattoo on his arm that said ‘love mommy’ in bold black letters, and if it wasn’t for that, I would never have found my boy,” McKinney said.

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Police alerted the medical examiner and they realized Davis’ body had been there the entire time. The problem was that Kelvin Davis was entered into the medical examiner’s system as Kevin Davis.

According to the police report, when Davis was found at a friend’s apartment on June 3, the friend, who police said was a reliable source, gave them the name “Kevin” rather than “Kelvin.”

“It’s like you have to think about the fact that this person might have a family and someone who loves them and cares about them,” Smith said.

The DOE’s office responded to the family’s concerns about the misunderstanding by saying, “We offer the family our deepest condolences.”

They continued: “Our staff would not have seen Calvin F. Davis in our system and would not have been able to verify the date of birth.” At the time of his death, Davis did not have any identification documents on him.

The medical examiner also stated that he “relies on investigative agencies to notify next of kin of the death of their loved one, but if next of kin are not located within 10 days, MEO works to locate the family.” They added that the office was working with police to verify fingerprints.

Police said the I-Team was fingerprinted at the time of death, but it came back with other names. Police said that since they were given the name “Kevin” at the scene, that is the name they gave to the medical examiner’s office.

In 2021, the I-Team reported on another family who spent nearly two months calling the DOE searching for a missing loved one. He was there the whole time and even had his ID with him.

As a result of this report, the Department of Justice took disciplinary action and the Cook County Office of Inspector General conducted an investigation and found deficiencies and violations. The DOE accepted numerous recommendations from the IG to approve the messages.

In the Austin area, Ayanna McFadden said she waited a month before she received a call from the medical examiner that revealed her son Malcolm’s body had been there the entire time after he died after falling onto the CTA Green Line tracks. He had his ID on him at the time.

“I love my son and miss him,” she said. “But I know he won’t come back.”

The medical examiner said, “Our deepest sympathies go out to McFadden’s family” and told the I-Team that Chicago police had not found Malcolm’s family, so they did a database search and “found the presumed next of kin.” The medical examiner left a voicemail the day after his death for Malcolm’s brother, not his mother.

Like many people today, his brother said he didn’t recognize the number, so he decided not to answer the call and saw the message a few weeks later.

“I want people to be held accountable for the actions they took because it was wrong,” McFadden said.

Both mothers said the process made their grief even more painful.

“Everyone has someone who loves them, and I love my son,” McFadden said.

“You have to change the system to help us; this is serious,” McKinney said.

The medical examiner’s report states that Davis died of cardiovascular disease. The Davis family said they are still fighting for changes to improve communication at the medical examiner’s office. The family has also filed complaints with the county council president, legislators and the Illinois Attorney General’s Office.