colorado funeral home under investigation colorado funeral home under investigation

On Oct. 2, the Lake and Eagle county sheriffs departments executed a search warrant at the Bailey-Kent Funeral Home in Leadville, where deputies encountered a strong odor of decomposition, according to an Oct. 13 summary suspension issued by the states Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration, before finding: In addition to the Leadville funeral home, the state issued suspension orders for the Kent Funeral Home Gypsum. Megan Hess, 46, pleaded guilty to fraud in July 2022 after a 2018 investigation that exposed her for selling parts of dead bodies that were brought to the funeral home for cremation. We were greeted at the door by her father, who told us to leave the property. Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state. It comes on the heels of a law passed in 2020 that. Thats when E.W. 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. The. No one returned her voicemails. Details of Shannon Kents operations come on the heels of a Montrose funeral home that made international headlines in 2018 after an FBI raid and subsequent two-year investigation. Donor Services has circulated a brochure that reads: Be a hero. The surgical-training companies and other firms which bought the arms, legs, heads and torsos from Hess did not know they had been fraudulently obtained, prosecutors said. I said I dont want to hear anymore.. Email address: Colorado Funeral Home / Body Broker Continues Under Investigation, Acquisitions, buy-outs, creative ideas. Hess is tentatively set to be sentenced in January. According to Reuters Sunset Mesa Funeral Home had seen their call volume increase from 59 in 2015 to 128 in 2017. The body was identified by fingerprints as Victor Akubuo, 42, from Southern . According to theDenver Post, prosecutors reached a plea agreement with Hess this year regarding a 2020 indictment against her and her mother. The owner of the funeral homes, Shannon Kent, is also Lake Countys coroner. In court on Tuesday, Hess declined to speak to the judge. Megan Hess, the former operator of a Montrose funeral home convicted of selling body parts without family consent, was . When Reuters visited her facility in 2016, Hess said Donor Services represented just 15 percent or so of her total business. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. some timely learning opportunities for our readers, Dont forget Low-tech to build your brand. 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. SCI 4Q Revenue and Year End Revenue lower than comparables, Funeral Director Daily, The business of Funeral Care. John Wayne Gacy House: Now. That individual, referred to in the order only as E.W., received no notice that the cremation would be done at the Gypsum funeral home, one of six locations Kent operates in Colorados high country. The next year,. 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. Subscribe to Funeral Director Daily heres a recap of our months top stories, Carriage Services reports Services and Revenue drops in 2022. Its not something that can be fixed., Hancock was notified by the FBI that her husbands body parts had been sold without her consent. To betray that help, in a way that the businesses here are alleged to have done, brings nothing but a lack of credibility to all funeral service professionals. Hess' mother, Shirley Koch, has also been indicted. Reuters identified 34 body brokers that have been active across the United States during the past five years. N.Y. Since that time, according to the article, Reuters has not been able to find another business in the United States that operates a funeral home, crematory, and body broker business in the same location and operated by the same owner. Some former staff members of Sunset Mesa said they never heard Hess disclose to donors that the bodies would be sold for profit. 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. Separate from the FBI inquiry, Reuters has learned that Colorado state funeral regulators are investigating Hesss funeral home, Sunset Mesa. Authorities also uncovered multiple refrigerated bodies which were wrapped in sheets or blankets but did not have any tags or paperwork identifying them. None of the former employees or associates Reuters interviewed worked directly for the body broker business. Staci Kent, however, wouldnt let them see the baby, Reh said. Just about any adult can run for coroner in Colorado. She said that one month she got about $40,000 from selling donated bodies. MONTROSE, Colo. (CBS4) - Federal authorities raided a funeral home in Montrose on Tuesday, at which the owner is under investigation for a side-business donating bodies for education and. The Bailey-Kent Funeral Home was the only option given to her for cremation under a certain weight, she said. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. 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. No one returned her voicemails. pleaded guilty to fraud in July after a . did not receive a contract for funeral services, and only received the cremains after several calls to Kent, the order states. Her 69-year-old mother, Shirley Koch, also pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to 15 years. Records from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies showthis was not the first time Kent has been in the crosshairs of state regulators. Peck was given another six months of probation. 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. In February 2018, Lina Cavanagh lost her baby at an advanced stage of pregnancy a loss that took its toll on her, both physically and emotionally. This whole situation, oh, I thought it was part of my past.. The details of the plea agreement are unknown, but a trial for Hess' mother is still on track to proceed. A body bag was found to be leaking bodily fluids along with a container of animal remains which was also leaking fluids. It is unbelievable, said Dave Teselle, a Denver-based attorney who represents Hancock and more than five dozen other families in a claim against the owners of Sunset Mesa and the companies who are accused of buying the body parts. A funeral home in Crapaud, Prince Edward Island is under RCMP investigation for allegations of financial irregularities. 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 brochure, provided to Reuters by Hess during the 2016 interview, continued this way: Every year, organ, eye and tissue transplants provide hope to tens of thousands of people suffering from disease, injury, trauma or blindness. A former Colorado funeral home operator has pleaded guilty to stealing and then selling hundreds of human bodies or body parts to people who were buying the remains for scientific, medical or . Funeral homes owned by a Colorado coroner under, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Get to know all 17 Denver mayor candidates , Funeral homes owned by a Colorado coroner under investigation following discovery of unrefrigerated body, unlabeled cremains, Owners of Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors indicted for illegally selling human body parts, Former Montrose funeral home director accused of selling body parts loses state insurance license, This really has shattered me: Betrayal, anger, grief haunt victims of Colorado funeral home that sold loved ones body parts without permission, Denver weather: Strong winds and low humidity will elevate fire concerns Sunday, Vehicle owners can register for car theft deterrent program DenverTrack, Data breach of DPS computer servers affects all district employees, officials say, Colorado psychologists gain authority to prescribe mental health medication, Colorado property owners to face astronomical tax increases next year, After School Satan Club launching first Colorado chapter, but organizer promises "we are not devil worshippers", PHOTOS: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band play Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado landlords say eviction-protection proposal could make dropping problem renters too hard, No more greasy pizza boxes, paper towels or takeout containers in Front Range compost bins come April 1, 5 can't-miss menus for Denver Restaurant Week, After teen's death, Denver East High students walk out to advocate for gun legislation, Boulder house where JonBenet Ramsey was found dead listed for sale for almost $7M, Metro Denver housing market crosses firmly into negative territory in February, Kiszla: With Brendan Rodgers down and out, Kris Bryant could become $182 million face of worst team in Rockies history, As Adderall shortage continues, DEA plans to limit some telemedicine prescriptions, House where JonBenet Ramsey was found dead listed for sale for almost $7M, Columbia University permanently drops SAT, ACT admissions requirement, The Waterbed Doctor: California retailer lays claim to retro bed with nearly 40 years of service, sales, Felonious Florida podcast: Missing teenage girl leads to several cases of child sex trafficking, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information, 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. On Oct. 13, the state shut down both the Gypsum operation and . In their filing, prosecutors stressed the "macabre nature" of Hess' scheme and described it as one of the most significant body parts cases in recent U.S. history. In cases like Schum's, where a family did agree to donate a body part, Hess sold more than she had permission to. Megan Hess, 46, pleaded guilty to fraud in July. 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. It is illegal in the United States to sell organs such as hearts, kidneys and tendons for transplant; they must be donated. I know these are not his ashes because his body parts went all over the country, Hanson said. You are not looking at the full disposition (of a body). Her 69-year-old mother, Shirley Koch, also pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to 15 years. Last August, police received a complaint that funds provided to. Funeral Director Daily take: I have a hard time fathoming what may have went on at this funeral home. Hess made donating a body online easy. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, 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. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. 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. . ), Windsors Newest Hot Spot is Open and Smells of Glorious Bacon [Photos], The Cheapest Home in Weld County is Selling for Less Than $90K, Local Fort Collins Photographer Wins 3rd Grammy in the Visual Arts, WATCH: This Deleted Scene From The Office Totally Calls Out Colorado, The 2023 Cheyenne Frontier Days Concert Lineup Has Been Announced, This Weeks Larimer Countys Most Wanted: Dallas Rusk, 3 Northern Colorado Districts in Top 10 for Slow Internet Access, New Life Planned for this Beloved Greeley Building, the dark history behind the town's funeral home, READ: This 1993 Steamboat Springs Murder Became One of the Nation's Most Chilling Cases. Hoping to get answers, Denver7 visited Hess home in Montrose. A few days later, she was able to pick up the cremains, but like E.W., Cavanagh received no paperwork. 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. Details of Shannon Kents operations come on the heels of a Montrose funeral home that made international headlines in 2018 after an FBI raid and subsequent two-year investigation. Now the women wonder how many others might have had the same experience. After receiving the cremains, E.W. The transfers were done through Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation and Donor Services, authorities said. 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. Take a look at some of Colorado's most notorious crimes. 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. He has served as Lake County coroner since 2012 and was reelected to a four-year term in November 2018. "We don't even have a name for a crime this heinous. She has been told parts of her husbands body were sold on the world-wide market. In 2018, Schum got a call from FBI Special Agent John Busch, who told her that Sunset Mesa had sold not just her friend's body, but many others. The 20-year term was the maximum allowed under law. One of Hesss donors was Rex Dunlap, a frugal Coloradan battling brain cancer. There are no ethics there when you do that. A woman in Colorado has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for illegally selling body parts. On dozens of occasions, Hess and Koch transferred bodies or body parts to third parties for research without families knowledge, according to the U.S. Justice Department. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, March 4th 2023 at 10:30 AM at the First Church of the Nazarene (505 E Beatty Ave, Yuma, CO 80759). They were arrested in 2020 and charged with six counts of mail fraud and three counts of illegal transportation of hazardous materials. The confrontation escalated when Shannon Kent allegedly called Lake County Sheriff Amy Reyes and threatened her with arrest for questioning his wifes decision not to use the body bag, prosecutors said. Colorado does not regulate body brokers.