- Do you know anyone involved? Email [email protected]
A London priest arrives to perform the funeral at one of London’s most historic churches, but the mourners are fake and the coffin is empty.
This strange mystery has puzzled local residents living in one of the capital’s most exclusive districts.
A grand funeral was scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at the London Oratory, a Roman Catholic church in South Kensington. There was a horse-drawn hearse, two luxury vintage cars, men in top hats, a packed choir, and a church filled with photos of young people. There was also a director who filmed the tragic day.
However, the funeral was canceled after the priest who led the funeral was stunned to discover that the body was missing from the coffin, and the mourners were paid as actors.
Father Rupert McHardy, 49, was preparing to preach, put on his robe, and prepare to begin the service when the choirmaster called him aside.
The funeral was said to be for a 23-year-old Latvian man who went missing in the New Year.
It is unclear whether he is dead or whether his family is also an innocent victim of a sinister fraud.
The organizer introduced himself as Clyde Zaub and said he was the brother of the “dead” man, Loris Zaub.
Clyde said Loris was found frozen in the ice. Funeral director T. Cribb and Sons were also provided with a death certificate, which allegedly came from Russia.
But Lauris Saube, a 23-year-old Latvian man who went missing after a New Year’s Eve party near an icy dam, appears to have never been found, and his brother Clyde. Apparently not. .
In another shocking development, Father Rupert said he believed the man who hosted the funeral was actually a convicted pedophile, but Mail Online has now published the man’s name. I haven’t.
Do you know anyone involved? Email [email protected]
Fr Rupert told MailOnline: [request] I came here 3 or 4 weeks ago.
We said, “Is there a connection?” [to the church]?” And they said yes from someone who suggested it be his brother, Clyde Zaub.
“He chose to read.
“On the day of the funeral, everything started to unravel.
“The undertakers were trying to retrieve the body, but at the last moment they said, ‘We don’t have a body, we have ashes.'”
Father Rupert said there are two groups of people in the church. The first group, which turned out to be actors, were polite and courteous, although one of them complained that he was not being paid.
He said, “There was another group wearing down jackets and balaclavas, including Clyde Zaub.”
“They had hoods and dark glasses. They had creepy faces.
“I tried to talk to this Clyde Zaub, but he wouldn’t talk to me.
“It became clear that he was not who he claimed to be.
“It was all some kind of fake funeral.
“They pretended there were bodies and mourners.
“One of the actors knew the name of the person who contacted him to come.
“He has a pretty unpleasant personality.
“I think it’s safe to say he claims to be Clyde Zaub.
“When we realized this wasn’t a real funeral, we said we can’t do this.
“We told them to leave and they left relatively happily.
“If they were real family, I would have cried and cried.
“We got paid. The funeral director was paid. We haven’t lost any money, but it’s very strange.
“I was pretty upset after that. I found it very disturbing.
“Usually people just take people at their word.
“No expense was spared, including a top hat, a horse-drawn carriage, two expensive vintage cars, and a choir.
“I was worried there would be some violence.
“I thought it was all fake and I had to stop.
“It was very creepy.”
MailOnline has contacted Riga police for comment.