colorado funeral home under investigation

colorado funeral home under investigation

(Reuters) -A former Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting 560 corpses and selling body parts. The conflict of interest of having a side business in body parts just leads to problems,Steve Palmer, a funeral director in Cottonwood, Ariz., and former member of the policy board at the National Funeral Directors Association, said. But days went by and she couldnt reach anyone. Authorities are now investigating. Funeral homes in Leadville and Gypsum are under criminal investigation after authorities this month found an unrefrigerated body, bags of unlabeled cremains, an abandoned stillborn infant and at least one instance in which a family received cremains for their stillborn child mixed with bits of adult body parts and metal fragments. Kent has not yet been arrested for the most recent incidents, which at the Leadville funeral home included authorities' discovery of an abandoned stillborn, according to the Oct. 13 summary suspension issued by Colorados Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Pictures show bodies stacked in hallways and unrefrigerated rental trucks. The Justice Department did not respond to Fox News' request for comment. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Take a look at some of Colorado's most notorious crimes. ", Tina Shanon, whose mother was dismembered against her will, told the court, "I've worn many masks to cover the pain. There are no ethics there when you do that.. She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity, Donor Services, from the same building in Montrose, Colorado. In an interview in 2016, she described Donor Services as a small, family business. However, there was more going on beneath the surface. Instead of paying the standard $695 cremation fee to . Emmanuel Macron shared his vision of a renewed partnership with Africa in which it stands equal with France, as he concluded a tour where he has sought to dispel France's image as an arrogant former colonial power whilst bidding for future influence. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. There are people and businesses who spend millions and millions of dollars," Teselle added, "trafficking in these body parts as if they were nothing more than cans of soup or loaves of bread., I was pretty shocked, said Jacque Hampson, a former employee of the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose. Sunset Mesa, like all other funeral homes in Colorado, is required by state law to have a death certificate filed with the vital records office before obtaining a disposition permit. Details uncovered in the FBI investigation were shared with her. None of the former employees or associates Reuters interviewed worked directly for the body broker business. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, A Colorado funeral home operator who was accused of selling and stealing body parts pleaded guilty to mail fraud on Tuesday, the US justice department . Few state laws provide any oversight. a contrarian view? You could hear the machine going, she told Kovaleski. That means almost anyone, regardless of expertise, can dissect and sell human remains. She signed a contract with a Montrose funeral home to have his body cremated. This whole situation, oh, I thought it was part of my past.. ", Funeral home remains under federal investigation. She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity, Donor Services, from the same building in Montrose, Colorado. Dunlap left one specific instruction: The glass eye that hed worn since a childhood accident should be removed and sent to his best friend. A Colorado funeral home is accused of victimizing families after claims that it secretly sold body parts in the hours after death. Along with it would be a note reading: Heres looking at you. The rest of his ashes would be buried with Dunlaps mother in Denver. No one would pick up the phone. Finally Reh and her boyfriend went to the funeral home with the expectation that they would see their baby. Unfortunately, the attention wasn't focused on the town's natural beauty or tourism opportunities. Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. No one returned her voicemails. The Bailey-Kent Funeral Home was the only option given to her for cremation under a certain weight, she said. The NBC10 Investigators found bodies inside an unlicensed funeral home in Chester, Pennsylvania. Meme Eberspacher, Dunlaps niece, was at his bedside the night that Dunlap died. During her speech at Diamond's funeral, her partner in crime, Silk, implied that there was foul play involved in her death and urged for an investigation. Finally Reh and her boyfriend went to the funeral home with the expectation that they would see their baby. But days went by and she couldnt reach anyone. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. DENVER, Colorado - A former Colorado funeral home owner was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on Tuesday for defrauding relatives of the dead by dissecting 560 . The transfers were done through Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation and Donor Services, authorities said. are acquisitions larger in general? The states Department of Regulatory Agencies said it has nine open complaints about Sunset Mesa higher than average for funeral homes in the state, said spokesman Lee Rasizer. did not receive a contract for funeral services, and only received the cremains after several calls to Kent, the order states. Family and friends are welcome to leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. Now the women wonder how many others might have had the same experience. The owners of that funeral home are facing charges of desecrating human remains more than four months after investigators found the body, which had been stored in a non-refrigerated room for years. The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state our community can better understand itself. Some of those family members are now questioning if the services were held free of charge while Donor Services sent some of the remains (body parts) to clients for payments without the knowledge and consent of family members. Hess is tentatively set to be sentenced in January. Kent is already facing charges of perjury and official misconduct for sending wife Staci Kent, who is not authorized to act as a deputy coroner, to death scenes on at least three occasions, according to a September 2019 grand jury indictment. According to the Johnstown, N.Y. Police Department, Brian M. Barnett, 35, who owns the since-shuttered Ehle . Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors of Montrose handled the funeral . Part 8: Former workers describe troubling practices at this mortuary-body broker, including allegations of deceptive marketing and an account of how gold dental work was removed from corpses and sold. The couple got dressed up in matching outfits and brought a special camera. The next year,. She showed Denver7 the container that she was given. No federal law prohibits the buying and selling of human body parts to be used in research and education. All they got was the urn and a death certificate no other paperwork. The news agency had also sent written questions to Hess and her attorney about Kochs alleged handling of gold teeth. In mid-November, she wrote an email to a surgical training company saying that she could supply a human torso, according to messages reviewed by Reuters. Torsos are a popular specimen these days, she wrote. Kent kept giving excuses, Cavanagh said. and Cavanagh, Reh had an immensely difficult time reaching the Kents, the phone ringing unanswered for weeks. At her funeral home, Hess charged families up to $1,000 for cremations that never occurred, prosecutors said, and she offered others free cremations in exchange for a body donation. The recent parade of early deaths has hit close to home. I didnt believe in depression until I lost my baby, Cavanagh said. Colorado regulators shut down the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in 2018. A funeral home in Crapaud, Prince Edward Island is under RCMP investigation for allegations of financial irregularities. Kent has not been arrested in this latest incident and no charges have been filed, though the two funeral homes business licenses have been suspended by the state. Downard Funeral Home Under Investigation, ISU Involved There are many events that have unfolded over the past couple weeks involving Downard Funeral Home, some including Idaho State University (ISU). This compassionate help is the essence of what we do. Why their loved ones were stolen from them, and they were given back dry cement or sand and told it was loved ones ashes, said Teselle. According to High Country News, Hess was running the funeral home in conjunction with a non-profit called Donor Services Inc., through which she sold "donated" body parts to companies a practice referred to as body brokering. The federal inquiry began several months ago, shortly after Reuters interviewed a half-dozen workers who formerly worked for Hess. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after entering the plea Tuesday in Grand Junction, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Members of the FBI, along with Montrose law enforcement investigate the Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors and Donor Services building Tuesday morning, February 6, 2018. They were arrested in 2020 and charged with six counts of mail fraud and three counts of illegal transportation of hazardous materials. DALLAS The Texas Funeral Service Commission says it has opened an investigation into allegations of the mishandling of corpses at one of the most high-profile mortuaries in the state. As a matter of fact, the FBI has set up a hot line and e-mail address for potential victims of the businesses to contact with information. Body brokers like Donor Services are also known as non-transplant tissue banks. Enter your email address to join 3,177 readers who subscribe to all Funeral Director articles. Megan Hess, the owner of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, and her parents are now under investigation by the FBI. Fo After reading the states suspension order this week, two women told The Denver Post that the circumstances surrounding E.W. sound eerily familiar. Her revised online biography cited her high school degree and a love of veterinary medicine.. LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Jeffersonville funeral home is under investigation after the owner allegedly got behind on processing bodies, which began stacking up for an unknown period of. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. Sam Tabachnik is a roving reporter for The Denver Post, focusing on stories outside metro Denver. "Hess and Koch used their funeral home at times to essentially steal bodies and body parts using fraudulent and forged donor forms," prosecutor Tim Neff said in a court filing. Hansons box included wires and what appear to be old batteries. The funeral home's owners, Megan Hess, 43, and her mother . Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. The most expensive prices were for an upper torso that included a head and arms ($4,000) and the cost of an entire body was $5,000, according to the price list. In mid-March, Kent received a letter of admonition" from the Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration after unembalmed, unrefrigerated remains were found in the Gypsum funeral home over 24 hours after the person had died. There are no ethics there when you do that. 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Now its possible its not my baby in the urn, Reh said. A former Colorado funeral home owner has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on charges of fraud and selling body parts without permission. Ducks, Used body bags, medical gloves and other surgical equipment with dried bodily fluid on them piled on the floor, Bodily fluids leaking out of a body bag containing an individual who had not been refrigerated, A container of animal remains leaking fluids, Several bodies in refrigeration wrapped in sheets or blankets without identifying tags or paperwork, An unmarked casket containing a stillborn infant that was abandoned, the suspension order states, Paperwork scattered several feet deep on the floor. No such degree exists in the United States for morticians, veteran funeral directors say. Andrew Scheid has been the director at . I said I dont want to hear anymore.. A former Colorado funeral home owner has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison on charges of fraud and selling body parts without permission. After contacting Hess in December about the content of the brochure, Dolin said Hess told the organ transplant group that the brochure in question was old and has not been used for some time.. Shannon and Staci Kent did not respond to interview requests from The Denver Post. Nursing Home Under Investigation After Woman Declared Dead Found Breathing at Funeral Home The incident happened at the Water's Edge Rehab and Nursing Center in Port Jefferson, the. The price list is from an Arizona company shut down after an FBI raid five years ago. Feb 4, 2023, 5:26 PM SGT. High Country News reports that, duringthe initial investigation, the FBI tested 128 samples of remains tied to Sunset Mesa. After a reporter asked questions about the websiteand her background, Hess removed the Add to Cart donation pages from her cremation website and cut the mention of the mortuary science degree from her online biography. Bailey-Kent Funeral Home, pictured at left, is one of two funeral homes owned by Shannon Kent now under criminal investigation. They are distinct from the organ and tissue transplant industry, which the U.S. government closely regulates. More Reuters investigations and long-form narratives, Got a confidential news tip? My mother and my mothers body has been desecrated.. Before he died in 2016, the 78-year-old retired contractor saved $200 on cremation by agreeing to pledge parts of his body to Donor Services. Reuters could not independently verify this figure. The investigation of Kents funeral homes began in February after the sheriffs office received a complaint by a client regarding the handling of human remains. The legislation has support from the state's largest trade association for funeral homes, the Colorado Funeral Directors Association. He had been dismembered. Below, find out where 25 of the most infamous crimes in history took place and what the locations are used for today. Funeral homes in Leadville and Gypsum are under criminal investigation after authorities this month found an unrefrigerated body, bags of unlabeled cremains, an abandoned stillborn infant and at least one instance in which a family received cremains for their stillborn child mixed with bits of adult body parts and metal fragments. Before he died in 2016, the 78-year-old retired contractor saved $200 on cremation by agreeing to pledge parts of his body to Donor Services. Her funeral home site listed her credentials, including a PhD in mortuary science. The operators of a Colorado funeral home suspected of running a side business selling body parts without consent have been indicted on fraud and illegally transporting diseased cadavers. Prior to the raid, the cost of purchasing an arm and shoulder was $600. The name of the state is derived form the Spanish . All rights reserved. According to Jeffersonville Police Major Isaac Parker, the department began its investigation of the Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center in Jeffersonville on Friday. Kent kept giving excuses, Cavanagh said. A Medical Examiner can often discover hidden evidence of injury to explain a sudden death, or can document natural diseases to show that no foul play was involved in the death. Sunset Mesas operators, Megan Hess and Shirley Koch, were indicted by a federal grand jury in March for allegedly shipping body parts all over the world against the will of family members, who found out years later that the ashes in their homes were not those of their loved ones. "Hess and Koch's conduct caused immense emotional pain for the families and next of kin.". The owner of the funeral homes, Shannon Kent, is also Lake Countys coroner. Instead of paying the standard $695 cremation fee to Colorado Cremation, Hesss former cremation marketing business, Dunlap paid Hess $495 to take his body. She said she and her mother, Koch, handled about 10 cadavers a month in the back room. Hess and Koch also shipped bodies and body parts that tested positive for, or belonged to people who died from, infectious diseases including Hepatitis B and C, and HIV, despite certifying to buyers that the remains were disease-free, authorities said. Thats when E.W. Suppliers of transplant tissue must obtain federal recognition and operate as charities. I saw a lot inside as far as, you know, body parts and things like that. She continued, But I was oblivious to what was going on. The probe into the coroners funeral homes started back in February, after a client complained to the Lake County Sheriffs Office about the handling of human remains. . As you likely know by now, Diamond of the famous 'Diamond and Silk' sister duo, has passed away at the young age of only 51. While operating Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, Colorado, Hess and Koch sold remains of the deceased for body broker services without family consent and gave families ashes that were. 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The FBI hired a lab to test the cremains given to the families, and they have determined the boxes of ash contain cement, sand and other non-human particles. It is also the only state that doesnt license funeral directors. I went through a very bad crisis losing the baby, Cavanagh said. Chantal Reh, an Avon resident, went through a similar experience when she suffered a stillborn birth in August 2018. Theyre united by the pain of believing they purchased cremation services for their loved ones, knowing they never agreed to let Hess dismember the bodies. did not receive a contract for funeral services, and only received the cremains after several calls to Kent, the order states. One ex-employee, Kari Escher, said she was especially troubled by the practices of Hesss mother, Shirley Koch, who works at the facility. 06, 2021. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Holloman now deals with the guilt of knowing details of what happened to her moms body. Hoping to get answers, Denver7 visited Hess home in Montrose. Kent also operates funeral homes in Silverthorne, Idaho Springs, Fairplay and Buena Vista. When Mabry and Eberspacher went to Sunset Mesa the morning after Dunlap died, Hess and Koch said they could not locate the eye, Eberspacher said. and Cavanagh, Reh had an immensely difficult time reaching the Kents, the phone ringing unanswered for weeks. Both have become experts on the secret industry of selling body parts on a world wide market. Most brokers who sell body parts offer to cremate part of the donors body for free. The suspension order details a 2019 instance in which an unnamed individual arranged with Kents funeral home for the cremation of their stillborn child. The friend would then place the glass eye in an urn containing half of Dunlaps ashes and bury the urn atop the grave of Dunlaps father in Telluride, Colorado. Hess' lawyer said she has been unfairly vilified as a "witch," a "monster" and a "ghoul," when instead she is a "broken human being" whose conduct can be attributed to a traumatic brain injury at age 18. And much like E.W. Now its possible its not my baby in the urn, Reh said. Koch's central role was chopping up the bodies, court records show. some timely learning opportunities for our readers, Dont forget Low-tech to build your brand. An agent with the FBI has interviewed at least four former employees who worked for funeral director and body broker Megan Hess, seeking information about how she operates her businesses, the former workers told Reuters. These illegitimate businesses are buying and selling body parts just like anything off the shelf at Walmart, added Teselle. [the FBI told me] his head was sent to so and so. Such a partnership may raise ethical concerns because it creates a financial incentive for the funeral home. POCATELLO, Idaho A Pocatello funeral home under investigation by the Idaho Board of Morticians has had its licenses revoked. At Donor Services, her body parts business, Hess can generate a greater return on the dead, a different price list reviewed by Reuters showed. Authorities also uncovered multiple refrigerated bodies which were wrapped in sheets or blankets but did not have any tags or paperwork identifying them. Responding to the investigations and details reported out of Montrose, Colorado lawmakers could become the first in the country to pass a law making it illegal for funeral home or crematory owners to operate as a body broker. They both plan to file complaints with the Department of Regulatory Affairs. Learn more about Colorado true crime stories in the gallery below. Peck was given another six months of probation. Other charges against Hess will be dropped under a plea agreement, the Sentinel said. An Upstate New York funeral home proprietor is facing imminent criminal charges for allegedly keeping dead human bodies in "advanced states of decomposition" in his business and its detached garage, local officials announced Friday. She showed me her collection of gold teeth one day, said Escher, who helped manage a former cremation-marketing business owned by Hess. Its for profit and people dont realize there is a huge demand for cadavers and body parts., That demand comes from all over the world including medical schools, law enforcement agencies, the military and a variety of other industries looking to legitimately purchase bodies and body parts for credible research. After reading the states suspension order this week, two women told The Denver Post that the circumstances surrounding E.W. sound eerily familiar. DENVER -- To many it is simply the unthinkable. With a population of about 20,000, Montrose is a community surrounded by the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. With heavy hearts, we announce the death of Arnold Roger Tesnow (Colorado Springs, Colorado), born in Worth, Illinois, who passed away on February 25, 2023 at the age of 78. On July 2, Jeffersonville Police officials announced dozens of bodies were found decomposing inside a funeral home in the Southern Indiana city, just across the river from Louisville. Kent also operates funeral homes in Silverthorne, Idaho Springs, Fairplay and Buena Vista. Body snatcher, vile, pure evil, sociopath, are the words they used when asked to describe Hess. Market data provided by Factset. "This is the most emotionally draining. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Ive had nightmares about it, said Fredericka Freddie Hancock. I see his body parts floating in space and I keep trying to grab them and put him back and I can't! A body bag was found to be leaking bodily fluids along with a container of animal remains which was also leaking fluids. MONTROSE, Colo. A Colorado funeral home is accused of victimizing families after claims that it secretly sold body parts in the hours after death. Golden Gate's owner denies all allegations.

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