For nearly four years, a Los Angeles family mourned the loss of their matriarch at what they believed was her grave, only to learn in 2025 that the site was empty.

According to the New York Post, the mix-up, which occurred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, led the family of Hasmik Demirchayn to file a lawsuit against the cemetery, alleging negligence and emotional harm after her headstone was mistakenly placed on the wrong burial plot.

Hasmik Demirchayn died of a heart attack in 2021 and was laid to rest in a plot the family had purchased in 2008. Unbeknownst to them, Forest Lawn placed her headstone on the wrong plot—“space 1”—even though she had been buried in the adjacent “space 2.”

From that point on, her children, grandchildren, and other relatives regularly gathered at the incorrect site to pay their respects. They brought flowers, prayed, and decorated the grave for holidays like Christmas, believing they were honoring her memory in the right place.

Her daughter Marine said she visited "every weekend" during the first year after Hasmik's passing. She reflected on what it felt like to discover the headstone wasn’t where her mother had been interred.

Discovery Came After Second Family Loss

The truth came to light in April 2025, during the funeral for Hasmik’s husband. As her son Chris prepared for burial arrangements, a mortician alerted him to a discrepancy, revealing that the site they had been visiting was unoccupied.

Chris described the revelation as both shocking and humiliating. “It’s a violation of trust,” he said, adding that the experience left the family feeling betrayed after years of honoring what turned out to be an empty site.

Following this discovery, Forest Lawn adjusted the placement of the headstone, moving it from the incorrect location to align correctly with Hasmik’s actual burial spot.

Legal Action Taken After Misplacement Found

The family reacted by filing a lawsuit against Forest Lawn Mortuary and the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Association. Their claims include fraud, breach of contract, negligence, and causing emotional distress through negligent actions.

According to the filings, the family is seeking compensatory damages for the pain and suffering they've endured, as well as punitive damages to hold the cemetery accountable for its mistake.

Their attorney, Rosie Zilifyan, emphasized that while the correction was appreciated, it wouldn’t have happened had there not been an additional tragedy to reveal the misplacement. She called the cemetery’s oversight inexcusable.

Family Members Describe Emotional Toll

Marine expressed the sorrow of learning they had been mourning over the wrong site. “It felt like losing her all over again,” she said. “We were just talking to an empty spot.”

She also spoke of the solace she believed she was offering her mother. “I thought, ‘At least, we have given her a peaceful, respectful place to rest,’” she said, calling the newly discovered reality devastating.

George Eskichyan, Hasmik’s grandson, criticized the cemetery’s response. “They think saying sorry and moving it makes up for what was four years of mourning that we did,” he said. “This adds an extra layer of hurt and pain.”

Cemetery Error Sparks Call for Accountability

In their legal complaint, the family made clear that they want more than just damages. Their goal is to prevent others from enduring similar heartbreak stemming from such mistakes at burial sites.

The family insists that their trust in the cemetery has been deeply affected. Although the headstone is now correctly positioned, they say the emotional scars from the prolonged error remain fresh and unresolved.

Through their lawsuit, they hope to hold those responsible accountable and to prompt changes in how cemetery plots are maintained and verified before and after burial services.