WASHINGTON, .C. (WUSA) -- The D.C. Medical Examiner's Office delivered the wrong body to a grieving South Carolina family.

Instead of sending medical researcher Kevin Ridge home, the morgue sent an unidentified homeless man who had died five months earlier.

Ridge died suddenly in his hotel room while visiting DC for a scientific conference.

Ridge's mother and sisters have now sued the city and two funeral homes involved in the transfer for millions of dollars.

The story was first reported in the Washington City Paper.