Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. Another alleged victim said her mothers body was desecrated. She showed Denver7 the container that she was given. I said I dont want to hear anymore.. She signed a contract with a Montrose funeral home to have his body cremated. The emotional, daylong hearing brought to a close a five-year legal odyssey that began when the FBI raided the funeral home in February 2018, following a Reuters investigation that found Sunset Mesa to be unlike any other business in the country. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Both Reh and Cavanagh said they want to get the ashes analyzed at the University of Colorado to see if they actually belong to their babies. She was sold, embalmed and shipped out within just a few hours of her death, said Holloman. After an extensive investigation into this and dozens of similar cases, federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged the owners of the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, Colorado, on suspicion of illegally brokering the body parts of deceased individuals they were hired to cremate. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. 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. 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. Separate from the FBI inquiry, Reuters has learned that Colorado state funeral regulators are investigating Hesss funeral home, Sunset Mesa. A Colorado funeral home is accused of victimizing families after claims that it secretly sold body parts in the hours after death. Shannon and Staci Kent did not respond to interview requests from The Denver Post. An indictment filed last week by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver alleges 43-year-old Megan Hess, of Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors and Donor Services, harvested body parts from hundreds of dead people without any authorization from their families. According to Reuters Sunset Mesa Funeral Home had seen their call volume increase from 59 in 2015 to 128 in 2017. Connie Hansons sons body parts were also allegedly sold. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. Pam Boyd/pboyd@vaildaily.com. The scope of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home and Donor Services remains unclear at this time while investigators are trying to get a handle on that issue. There, authorities also found dried bodily fluid on surgical equipment, the metal preparation table, and the floor. Think about it, the FBI came in and raided them, and they raided them because they knew this body broker this was getting bigger and bigger and bigger, said Berg. The indictment accuses Kent of allowing his wife to go out to death scenes as a deputy coroner, even though she took no oath and an appointment had not been filed with the county clerk, as required by law. ", Tina Shanon, whose mother was dismembered against her will, told the court, "I've worn many masks to cover the pain. On March 16, the director of the Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration sent Kent a letter of admonition after a state investigator found unembalmed, unrefrigerated bodily remains in his Gypsum funeral home more than 24 hours from the date of death. 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. In an interview in 2016, she described Donor Services as a small, family business. According to the Johnstown, N.Y. Police Department, Brian M. Barnett, 35, who owns the since-shuttered Ehle . The Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center is under investigation by Jeffersonville Police Detective Division after 31 deceased individuals and the post-cremated remains of 16 individuals. 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. The Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors and Donor Services building in Montrose, Colorado, U.S., December 16, 2017. The transfers were done through Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation and Donor Services, authorities said. PUBLISHED 8:21 PM CT Apr. Reuters Investigates offers several ways to securely contact our reporters. They are struggling with claims she created a product with a power saw and angry that she ultimately profited from the sale of arms, heads legs, torsos even whole bodies. A A A Colorado-based funeral home director has been sentenced to 20 years in prison stemming from a litany of charges including fraud and illegally selling the body parts or bodies of approximately 500 individuals whose families did not consent to that practice. and Cavanagh, Reh had an immensely difficult time reaching the Kents, the phone ringing unanswered for weeks. All rights reserved. He would not discuss the nature of those complaints or any action it may be taking. 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. Golden Gate Funeral Home in Dallas is accused of a range of misdeeds, from not embalming or refrigerating bodies in a . (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. One of Hesss donors was Rex Dunlap, a frugal Coloradan battling brain cancer. Could, Lake County coroner turns in resignation letter, State suspends operations of Leadville, Gypsum funeral homes, 3 BULLETS TO THE BACK: The striking silence around a police, Last Season Hunters Harvested the Most Bucks in 21 Years | Outdoor Life, Republicans are barring medical boards from punishing doctors who prescribe ivermectin: report | Salon.com, Mead High School student gets musical Make-A-Wish surprise, Bruce Cassidy Defends Tuukka Rask After Tough Showing Vs. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. Few state laws provide any oversight. This whole situation, oh, I thought it was part of my past.. Body brokering is not illegal in Colorado; however, a 2020 Denver7 report noted that Hess, along with her mother, were donating bodies without the consent of the deceased's family. 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. We did not provide our messaging to be repurposed in this brochure, and are following up, said spokeswoman Erin Dolin. Heads went for $500 and $250 for a knee prices at significantly discounted rates compared to other body brokers. He had been dismembered. Now its possible its not my baby in the urn, Reh said. 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 . Megan Hess, the owner of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, and her parents are now under investigation by the FBI. Body snatcher, vile, pure evil, sociopath, are the words they used when asked to describe Hess. At the nursing home, Eberspacher said she reminded Koch that the glass eye was supposed to be returned and suggested it be popped out there. The Lake County Sheriffs Office confirmed an active criminal investigation is underway. According to Jeffersonville Police Major Isaac Parker, the department began its investigation of the Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center in Jeffersonville on Friday. Learn more about Colorado true crime stories in the gallery below. Her father, Alan Koch, ran the crematory, Hess said. POCATELLO, Idaho Police in Pocatello are investigating a local funeral home after they said a state health inspector contacted them about the business and a badly decomposed body was found. Earlier this month, authorities from both Lake and Eagle counties encountered a strong odor of decomposition when they searched the Leadville funeral home, reads. E.W. I went through a very bad crisis losing the baby, Cavanagh said. The conflict of interest of having a side business in body parts just leads to problems, said Steve Palmer, a funeral director in Cottonwood, Arizona, and former member of the policy board at the National Funeral Directors Association. Forty-fifth President and leading 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump has been exonerated of false claims from the radical left and the Biden administration that Trump was responsible for the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, due to a rollback. a contrarian view? But no federal law governs the sale of cadavers or body parts for use in research or education. and Cavanagh, Reh had an immensely difficult time reaching the Kents, the phone ringing unanswered for weeks. Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. . See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Subscribe today to see what all the buzz is about. Golden Gate's owner denies all allegations. Colorado does not regulate body brokers. The Donor Services brochure was criticized as deceptive by two major U.S. organ donation groups after Reuters shared it with them. "Our sweet mother, they dismembered her," Erin Smith said, selling her shoulders, knees and feet for profit. Market data provided by Factset. Non-compete agreements, Customer Experience, Community Engagement. Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. My mother and my mothers body has been desecrated.. Finally Reh and her boyfriend went to the funeral home with the expectation that they would see their baby. Donor Services has circulated a brochure that reads: Be a hero. The state's Department of Regulatory Agencies. Colorado Ordway Funeral Homes Eaton Family Funeral Home Eaton Family Funeral Home in Ordway 202 E 3rd St Ordway, CO 81063 (719) 267-4221 Click to show location on map Zoom About Eaton Family Funeral Home We understand that losing a loved one can be a very stressful time. (Google). The news agency had also sent written questions to Hess and her attorney about Kochs alleged handling of gold teeth. The focus and extent of the federal probe into the Hess operation is unclear, and the FBI also declined to comment. Thank you for thinking of me.. The Justice Department did not respond to Fox News' request for comment. Sam Tabachnik is a roving reporter for The Denver Post, focusing on stories outside metro Denver. Updated: 8:07 PM MDT September 14, 2021. The Bailey-Kent Funeral Home was the only option given to her for cremation under a certain weight, she said. Pictures show bodies stacked in hallways and unrefrigerated rental trucks. (McGovern said no industry regulated by the Division of Professions and Occupations has regulators assigned exclusively to it.) Though Koch dissected bodies in the back room at Sunset Mesa, they claimed that the body had to be sent out for harvesting, Eberspacher said. One ex-employee, Kari Escher, said she was especially troubled by the practices of Hesss mother, Shirley Koch, who works at the facility. Investigators discovered 31 dead bodies, some of which were in advanced stages of decomposition. It was kinda creepy., It is totally unregulated, said Burg. It is illegal in the United States to sell organs such as hearts, kidneys and tendons for transplant; they must be donated. N.Y. Hess continues running a dual operation. 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. They both plan to file complaints with the Department of Regulatory Affairs. Thousands more patients could benefit from life saving and healing eye and tissue donations.. Two Colorado funeral homes are under criminal investigation after authorities found a unrefrigerated body and learned that at least one family had received a stillborn's cremains mixed. In court on Tuesday, Hess declined to speak to the judge. She showed me her collection of gold teeth one day, said Escher, who helped manage a former cremation-marketing business owned by Hess. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Pettyjohn now lives with the memory of what happened to the body of her 26-year-old son, Brian. MILLERSVILLE, Pa. (WHTM) A Lancaster County funeral home and its director are facing formal disciplinary action and are under investigation by the state. . This whole situation, oh, I thought it was part of my past.. Koch told the judge she was sorry and took responsibility for her actions. Other charges against Hess will . Hes already facing charges of official misconduct and perjury stemming from allegations last year that he sent his wife Staci to multiple death scenes even though she wasnt authorized to serve as a deputy coroner. Read on to see why: At a glance, the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home appeared to be a business helping locals through the loss of their loved ones. A state investigation by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance now focuses on a Memphis funeral home that's also the focus of a Netflix reality show. I just figured it was a legitimate business., When asked by Denver7 if she ever heard bodies being dismembered, Hampson said, you could hear the machine going. Asked if that machine was a saw, she said, Yes, you could hear that in the room (a back room at the funeral home). Be an organ donor, a slogan often used by organ transplant advocates. Staci Kent, however, wouldnt let them see the baby, Reh said. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. The lawsuit estimates the three were making $40,000 a month from the sale of body parts. The next year,. Prior to the raid, the cost of purchasing an arm and shoulder was $600. The conflict of interest of having a side business in body parts just leads to problems. And as of. 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. Hes already facing charges of official misconduct and perjury stemming from allegations last year that he sent his wife Staci to multiple death scenes even though she wasnt authorized to serve as a deputy coroner. Hess is tentatively set to be sentenced in January. The charges defray the cost of picking up the deceased, she said in the 2016 interview. You are looking at how to make money.. The owner of the funeral homes, Shannon Kent, is also Lake Countys coroner. Like many, Hanson found out about her son Frederick during a phone call from an FBI agent. The remains Hess returned to families were also not those of their loved ones. I went through a very bad crisis losing the baby, Cavanagh said. Reuters began examining the Hess companies more than a year ago as part of the news agencys exploration of the human body trade, a virtually unregulated industry that largely operates in the shadows. Her revised online biography cited her high school degree and a love of veterinary medicine.. On March 16, the director of the Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration sent Kent a letter of admonition after a state investigator found unembalmed, unrefrigerated bodily remains in his Gypsum funeral home more than 24 hours from the date of death. The fact that now the business is also making money from the sale of body parts if that is not being told to the family, it is unethical and probably illegal, if only as deception, said Robert Fells, general counsel of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, an industry trade group. Other charges against Hess will be dropped under a plea agreement, the Sentinel said. found out the cremains contained ashes from an infant, but also long bone fragments of an older/larger adult individual and metal, according to the suspension order. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. . 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. It can't be fixed, said Hancock. Finally Reh and her boyfriend went to the funeral home with the expectation that they would see their baby. 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. After reading the states suspension order this week, two women told The Denver Post that the circumstances surrounding E.W. sound eerily familiar. A price list uncovered during an ongoing lawsuit against an Arizona body broker provides insight into the value of body parts and the profits that can be produced. Reuters has reported in a report that you can read here that the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home of Montrose, Colorado, and its associated business, Donor Services, remains under investigation by the FBI. Hess, however, charged families to donate their bodies $195, plus $300 more if relatives want cremated remains returned.
March 14, 2023