But no federal law governs the sale of cadavers or body parts for use in research or education. The conflict of interest of having a side business in body parts just leads to problems. felt they were too heavy to be those of a stillborn child, and submitted them for analysis. Fo Indiana funeral home fell behind on processing bodies, which began to Colorado regulators shut down the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in 2018. MONTROSE, Colorado The Federal Bureau of Investigation is interviewing former employees of a funeral home whose owner runs a side business on the same premises selling human body parts. Staci Kent arrived to one of those death scenes without a body bag, which spurred an argument with authorities, the indictment notes. Most brokers who sell body parts offer to cremate part of the donors body for free. Its really an underground industry that most people dont know about, said attorney Michael Burg. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. 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. 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. Finally, after a month, she got Staci Kent on the phone and laid into her, asking why she hadnt heard anything about her sons cremains. E.W. Thank you, she said before ending the call. It only investigates a funeral home if a complaint is filed, he said. Montrose, Colorado: A former funeral home operator pleads guilty to The. It is also the only state that doesnt license funeral directors. 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 . Finally Reh and her boyfriend went to the funeral home with the expectation that they would see their baby. GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO: On allegations of fraud and illegally selling body parts, a former owner of a funeral home in Colorado was given a 20-year term in federal prison. 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. Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors of Montrose handled the funeral . 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. 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. By: Tony Kovaleski Posted at 6:00 PM, Oct 31, 2019 He covers everything from stolen art and towing to mobile homes and quirky stories that defy category. The focus and extent of the federal probe into the Hess operation is unclear, and the FBI also declined to comment. Family and friends can send flowers and condolences in memory of the loved one. You are looking at how to make money.. Pictures show bodies stacked in hallways and unrefrigerated rental trucks. On Oct. 13, the state shut down both the Gypsum operation and . A body bag was found to be leaking bodily fluids along with a container of animal remains which was also leaking fluids. The back of the brochure featured the logo Donate Life, the national brand that promotes organ donation and is managed by Donate Life America, a nonprofit group. and Cavanagh, Reh had an immensely difficult time reaching the Kents, the phone ringing unanswered for weeks. I didnt believe in depression until I lost my baby, Cavanagh said. Police investigating Pocatello funeral home - KTVB 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. Separate from the FBI inquiry, Reuters has learned that Colorado state funeral regulators are investigating Hesss funeral home, Sunset Mesa. It was kind of creepy.. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. "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. 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. Escher said Koch, who embalmed and dismembered bodies, pulled teeth from some of the corpses to extract the gold in crowns or fillings. I didnt believe in depression until I lost my baby, Cavanagh said. Lawsuits pile up against former funeral director - Tennessee Lookout . 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. Colorado coroner arrested, accused of tampering with a human body 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. However, there was more going on beneath the surface. Its tentacles go throughout not only the country but the world.. and Cavanagh, Reh had an immensely difficult time reaching the Kents, the phone ringing unanswered for weeks. Megan Hess, the owner of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, and her parents are now under investigation by the FBI. Like many, Hanson found out about her son Frederick during a phone call from an FBI agent. Thats when E.W. The remains Hess returned to families were also not those of their loved ones. Another alleged victim said her mothers body was desecrated. State investigates 'Buried by the Bernards' funeral home - WREG.com She said that one month she got about $40,000 from selling donated bodies. The Denver attorney is referring to the limited and nonexistent regulation nationwide and worldwide regarding the procurement and selling of bodies and body parts. There are no ethics there when you do that. 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. Colorado funeral home owners sentenced to federal prison for selling Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. 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. Arnold Roger Tesnow Obituary (1944 - 2023) | Colorado Springs, Colorado Eaton Family Funeral Home Ordway, Colorado - imortuary.com 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. 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. There is also evidence of Donor Services shipping at least 26 boxes containing body parts to various parts of the world in 2016 according to evidence that has been recovered. A funeral home in Indiana is under investigation after allegedly falling behind on processing dead bodies for an unknown period of time, but at least a few months. Body brokers sometimes market their services using language that could mislead prospective donors into believing the broker handles organ donations. 31 decomposed bodies, cremated remains discovered during Clark - WAVE When Reuters visited her facility in 2016, Hess said Donor Services represented just 15 percent or so of her total business. 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. She showed Denver7 the container that she was given. There are currently 350 funeral home listings for the state of Colorado and we provide all the cemetery information for the state as well. are acquisitions larger in general? 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 attorney, Carol Viner, asked Reuters to refrain from contacting Hess employees for any reason.. by Mr. Leadville | Oct 26, 2020 | Leadville News. Pettyjohn now lives with the memory of what happened to the body of her 26-year-old son, Brian. He has served as Lake County coroner since 2012 and was reelected to a four-year term in November 2018. 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. 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). A Colorado funeral home is accused of victimizing families after claims that it secretly sold body parts in the hours after death. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. This compassionate help is the essence of what we do. The gruesome details of the case which authorities say included more than 500 victims drew international attention and shined a light on the . Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. Did you ever consent to have this family mutilate your husbands body? asked Denver7. Her 69-year-old mother, Shirley Koch, also pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to 15 years. Funeral home remains under federal investigation A woman is among more than five dozen family members currently suing the family that operated the now shut-down Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, after finding out her husband's body parts had been sold without her consent. And as of. The recent parade of early deaths has hit close to home. Finally, after a month, she got Staci Kent on the phone and laid into her, asking why she hadnt heard anything about her sons cremains. 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. She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity, Donor Services, from the same building in Montrose, Colorado. Seeing how this chapter is opening up again is incredible, its unbelievable. ", Tina Shanon, whose mother was dismembered against her will, told the court, "I've worn many masks to cover the pain. Shannon and Staci Kent, 45, of Leadville were charged on Friday with attempted tampering with a deceased human body. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Colorado regulators have shut down the funeral home. Sam Tabachnik is a roving reporter for The Denver Post, focusing on stories outside metro Denver. Hess runs Sunset Mesa, a funeral home, and Donor Services, a body broker operation from the same building in Montrose. When asked if it contained her husbands cremains, she said, I dont know.. Email address: Colorado Funeral Home / Body Broker Continues Under Investigation, Acquisitions, buy-outs, creative ideas. Leaking body bags, unrefrigerated remains: Colorado funeral homes under Market data provided by Factset. It is a business and it is a profit business, added Burg. As funeral directors, while we dont do everything perfect, we should have the best interest of our client families at heart. Specifics of the scope of theFBI investigation are unclear. In Colorado, there are few regulations to catch shoddy behavior, such as illegitimate body trading, by mortuaries. The federal case was triggered by a 2016-2018 Reuters investigative series about the sale of body parts in the United States, a virtually unregulated industry.
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