A 60-year old man who hired a Brooklyn, N.Y. funeral home to send his wife's body back to her native Ecuador for burial has filed suit against the funeral home and American Airlines Inc, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Sep. 9.

The AP says the man asked the DeRiso Funeral Home in Brooklyn to send his wife's body to Guayaquil, Ecuador on Apr. 1. The coffin ended up missing for four days, with American Airlines first reporting the body may be in Miami, the AP says. The airline eventually determined the body was in Guatemala City.

The AP quoted an airline spokeswoman who said the company is still investigating the case and could not comment on pending litigation.

The report also quoted a representative with the DeRiso Funeral Home, which said the body was properly embalmed and there was no decomposition. The funeral home blames the shipping delay on American Airlines, alleging an American employee erroneously punched in the shipping code for Guatemala instead of Guayaquil.