Jackson, Mississippi - It was a family's worst nightmare when they wanted to say goodbye to their loved one at a funeral – but there was a complete stranger in the coffin.

Georgia Robinson of Jackson, Mississippi wanted to pay her last respects to her deceased sister Mary Jean Robinson, but the funeral ended in disaster after a huge mix-up.

When the relatives looked into the coffin at Mary Jean's wake earlier this month at People’s Funeral Home, they could hardly believe their eyes: the family had never seen the person lying there.

"We were walking down to view her body, and I knew something was kind of off.," Georgia told WLBT about the traumatic experience.

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"I could tell that it wasn’t her from far back."

She explained the person lying in the casket was wearing the clothes and jewelry she had chosen for her sister, but was a complete stranger.

When Robinson confronted the head of the funeral home about the mistake, he "was very rude and very uncaring," she said.

He even apparently told the family they would "have to pay for everything all over again."

After a lengthy back-and-forth, the funeral home finally agreed to the family's demands and at least got new clothes for Georgia's deceased sister. But they did not replace the casket.

"I told him not to put anything on my sister that was on that lady," Georgia said.

Yet, "he put the earrings on her anyway."

The family feels "terrible" about the incident, and Georgia said she can only imagine what would have happened if they had a closed coffin.

"We would have ended up burying someone else’s loved one instead of ours."