Ashes Scattered at Wrong Beach Due to GPS Error, Family Sues Garmin

The family of the late Kenneth Brower is suing GPS manufacturer Garmin after a navigation error led them to scatter his cremated remains at a municipal dog beach in Long Beach rather than the scenic El Matador Beach in Malibu, where Brower had proposed to his wife in 1987. The incident occurred on January 14 when the Brower family's Garmin DriveAssist directed them to 'El Matador Beach' but instead routed them to Rosie's Dog Beach, a popular off-leash area thirty-seven miles south of the intended destination. 'The GPS said we had arrived,' said Brower's son, Daniel, 39. 'We didn't question it. The sun was setting. Mom was emotional. We opened the urn and let Dad go. Then a golden retriever ran through him.' The family realized the error approximately twenty minutes later when they noticed the abundance of tennis balls, waste stations, and a conspicuous absence of the dramatic sea cliffs visible in every photo Kenneth had kept of El Matador. 'Dad specifically said El Matador,' Daniel continued. 'It was in his will. It was in a handwritten letter. He even circled it on a Thomas Guide from 1994 that he kept in his nightstand. And now he's at a dog beach. Mixed in with dog beach sand. Being walked on by dogs.' Garmin issued a statement acknowledging the navigation error and attributing it to 'a known database inconsistency in the Southern California coastal region.' The company offered the family a replacement GPS unit and a $50 gift card, which the family's attorney described as 'an inadequate remedy for the geographic misplacement of human remains.' The family is seeking $2.1 million in damages. They have not attempted a second scattering. 'At this point,' Daniel said, 'Dad's at the dog beach. He actually liked dogs. Maybe it's fine. Our lawyer says it's not fine, but maybe it's fine.'