MIAMI -- A lawsuit has been filed against a South Florida cemetery and its parent company after a woman learned that remains belonging to her 68-year-old father are missing.

Ondina Guerra's father, Miguel Toledo, passed away 17 years ago. He and his wife planned to be buried together in the same plot and specified those wishes in their pre-need burial contract with the cemetery at 14200 SW 117th Ave.

When Ondina Toledo passed away two weeks ago at the age of 81, family members were horrified to learned Miguel Toledo's remains were missing from the plot.

"It's been terrible. I haven't slept, I haven't been able to eat," said Guerra, of Kendall. Guerra has filed a lawsuit against Memorial Plan Cemetery and also Service Corporation International. SCI is the parent company and is the largest funeral services company in the country, Local 10's Kellie Butler reported.

SCI became well-known in 2001 when it was discovered that employees at two of its Menorah Gardens Cemeteries in Broward and Palm Beach counties routinely buried bodies in the wrong places, broke open vaults to squeeze in more burials and scattered bones into a nearby maintenance yard. In 2003, the company reached a $100 million settlement with plaintiffs who had filed a class-action lawsuit.

In the lawsuit filed Thursday, an SCI company spokeswoman said, "The burial of Mr. Toledo occurred in 1990, prior to SCI's ownership of the property. We purchased it in 1992."

The SCI spokeswoman, Florencia Parada, went on to say they realized there was a mistake when they were preparing Mrs. Toledo's burial and they instantly contacted the family. They said they believe Mr. Toledo is buried nearby and are working to resolve the situation quickly, Butler reported.

Guerra said for the past 17 years she has been putting flowers on top of an empty gravesite. Her attorney, Stewart Greenberg, said first and foremost his client wants her father's remains found, then she will be seeking SCI for punitive damages.