Dead pianist buried by the wrong family
A DEAD Canadian pianist is believed to have been buried by the wrong family in a case of mistaken identity.
Scott Cushnie, who was known as “Professor Piano” and played with bands including Aerosmith, went missing in August from his Toronto apartment. It appears that the 80-year-old suffered a fall and died in hospital.
His body was wrongly identified and returned to the family of another missing man, who held a funeral.
The second missing man, who has not been named, later turned up alive.
Meanwhile, friends of Cushnie, who was legally blind, were still trying to find him.
Andrea Reid, a friend of the musician, told Canadian television: “Last week I got a call from our lead detective [who said] that he believed he had found Scott, and he was no longer with us. And then he proceeded to tell me a tale that is something you wouldn’t believe if you saw it on television.
“As I understand it he had a funeral, quite a nice one, and was buried, and that’s where he’s been this whole time. And their family member did return alive, and needless to say they had buried the wrong man.
“I’m sorry for laughing, but I do believe Scott, wherever he is, is laughing as well. He had an incredible sense of humour.”
The mistake was uncovered after a key fob for Cushnie’s building was found in the clothes of the dead man.
Dr Dirk Huyer, the chief coroner in the Canadian province of Ontario, said the body would be exhumed.
He told Canada’s National Post: “We are aware of an apparent misidentification of a person who is buried.
“I am in the planning stages now of arranging disinterment so we can take the necessary steps to determine the identity of the person.”
In a statement, Canadian police said that the family of the second missing man had positively, but mistakenly, identified Cushnie’s body as their relative.