Raleigh family livid after dead mother's apartment cleaned out due to housing mix-up

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A Raleigh family is livid after they still can't find the possessions of their deceased loved one.

"I remember her as a strong woman-a strong individual," said Shannon Dorsey, whose mother Doris Thomas died on Dec. 8. "She was outspoken, full of life and I just can't imagine going forward without her."

Dorsey and her family came back a week after Thomas' funeral to clean her second story apartment at the Carriage Apartments but it was already cleaned out.

"During a time of grieving and mourning your loved one, this is the last thing you want to deal with," Dorsey said.

The Raleigh Housing Authority said it was a "untimely mistake due to the fact that there were multiple people vacating around the same time from the same floor."

Shannon said she had paid her mother's rent for the month of December so they should've had access to the apartment all month. When she went to the apartment Monday, the apartment lock was changed as well.

"Just to walk in and see that all of her irreplaceable memorabilia that have been in our family for so long were gone: it was horrible," said Shannon. "To remember my mother, I need the irreplaceable items that my family and I would look at to remember her: I have photos of my grandparents I'll never see again."

The Raleigh Housing Authority also said their staff "confused families who were vacating their family members from that particular building."

Sonia Anderson, director of housing management, continued "We are very sorry for the loss of their mother and the remaining items from her apartment. We have an itemized list of what was removed and performed during a vacancy turn over and this agency is working with the family on this matter. Staff is very sorry for their mistake."

"It was hard enough for us to plan a memorial and still say, 'Hey we need to get to that apartment to clean it up but to walk in and nothing was there,'" she said.