VALLEY GRANDE — The sad story involving a January fire that killed James Barlow Sr. and his elderly mother, Bertha Yeager, and the resulting search for their remains, turned odd in April when family members came across more remains in the home’s ruins; remains they believed had already been found, reviewed and cremated.

The question in April was if these remains were still at the home, then what was it state forensic officials and investigators removed from the home in January?

In May, officials emphatically stated the remains given to the family in January were Barlow’s and that the bones found in April, were also those Barlow’s, but were partial remains in addition to those already found and removed in January.

Now, more than six months later, Barlow’s family is demanding compensation for what they call “severe emotional distress.”

But in another odd twist, it isn’t the Summerfield Volunteer Fire Department, the Dallas County Coroner’s office or the Alabama forensics lab the family is citing, it is the city of Valley Grande.

In separate claims filed with the city of Valley Grande, relatives of Barlow are asking for a combined $300,000 in compensation saying, “the remains of James Barlow, Sr. was misidentified by city officials and negligently handled.”

According to Valley Grande Mayor Tom Lee, the filings against the city are as confusing as the case surrounding the clear identification of the remains for the simple reason that the city does not have a fire department and “played no role” in the identification or handling of the remains.

“I think this is a perfect case of someone using the shotgun approach to casting blame for a situation,” Lee said Wednesday. “It just shows that their attorney probably didn’t do any homework before filing these claims.”

The attorney for the family members filing the claim, Cleophus Gains Jr., refused to comment on any of the particulars of the case, including why his clients felt the city was responsible for any of the events surrounding the response to the fire, the removal of the remains or the identification of the remains.

“We’ve been told this is a pretty standard claim, but the city had no role in this at all,” Lee said.

The claims are not lawsuits, but rather requests to pay the amount on the claim. Lee said when the matter is presented to the council in an upcoming meeting, that they will likely ote to deny the claim.

Through the investigations, there was no confusion over Yeager’s remains.