colorado funeral home under investigation colorado funeral home under investigation

Kent also still faces second-degree official misconduct charges stemming from a September 2019 grand jury indictment in the Fifth Judicial District. But days went by and she couldnt reach anyone. The lawsuit claims the three sold torsos for $1,000, a pelvis with upper legs for $1,200. Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. At the focal point of the FBI probe: funeral director Megan Hess, who did not return Fox News request for a comment. Separate from the FBI inquiry, Reuters has learned that Colorado state funeral regulators are investigating Hesss funeral home, Sunset Mesa. 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. Colorado regulators shut down the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in 2018. 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). Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. SENTINEL FILE PHOTO Sisters Layna and Janet Hutt hold photos of their father, Raymond Hutt, who died in 2016 at the age of 96. POCATELLO, Idaho A Pocatello funeral home under investigation by the Idaho Board of Morticians has had its licenses revoked. A funeral director who also works as a body broker could have a financial incentive to sell a body for its valuable parts rather than provide an inexpensive burial, for instance. "Hess and Koch's conduct caused immense emotional pain for the families and next of kin.". 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. You could hear the machine going, she told Kovaleski. His head and his arms from his elbows to his fingers, his legs from his knees to his toes, had been removed from his body and they had been sold.. 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. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. pleaded guilty to fraud in July after a . Prosecutors recommended a sentence for Hess of 12 to 15 years. Another alleged victim said her mothers body was desecrated. Staci Kent, however, wouldnt let them see the baby, Reh said. Body snatcher, vile, pure evil, sociopath, are the words they used when asked to describe Hess. 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. Torsos are a popular specimen these days, she wrote. MONTROSE, Colo. A Colorado funeral home is accused of victimizing families after claims that it secretly sold body parts in the hours after death. A judge sentenced a Colorado funeral-home owner who carved up corpses and sold parts of them without families' permission to 20 years in prison on Tuesday, according to the Department of Justice. First published on Wed 6 Jul 2022 10.36 EDT. Colorado does not regulate body brokers. The state's Department of Regulatory Agencies. They both plan to file complaints with the Department of Regulatory Affairs. The FBI started looking into Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors and Donor Services a few months after it was discovered that both businesses were being operated out of the same building and by the same owner, according to thereport. parents are now under investigation by the FBI. In at least dozens of instances, Hess and Koch did not follow family wishes, and neither discussed nor obtained authorization for Donor Services to transfer decedents' bodies or . This content was originally published here. Earlier this month, authorities from both Lake and Eagle counties encountered a strong odor of decomposition when they searched the Leadville funeral home, reads. 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. Hancocks story started after her husband, Thomas, passed away. Twenty-five of the brokers were for-profit corporations. Family and friends can send flowers and condolences in memory of the loved one. Kent also operates funeral homes in Silverthorne, Idaho Springs, Fairplay and Buena Vista. She was sold, embalmed and shipped out within just a few hours of her death, said Holloman. When asked if it contained her husbands cremains, she said, I dont know.. 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). Just about any adult can run for coroner in Colorado. The Daily Sentinel reports that Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after entering the plea Tuesday in Grand Junction. Hess is tentatively set to be sentenced in January. Details uncovered in the FBI investigation were shared with her. No one returned her voicemails. They were affiliated with her funeral business. Golden Gate's owner denies all allegations. The couple got dressed up in matching outfits and brought a special camera. You know, they can't put his head back on his body, they can't put his arms and legs back on his body. The Denver attorney is referring to the limited and nonexistent regulation nationwide and worldwide regarding the procurement and selling of bodies and body parts. As she mourned the loss of her son, Cavanagh was referred to the Kent Funeral Home in Gypsum to do the cremation. The Lake County Sheriffs Office confirmed an active criminal investigation is underway. did not receive a contract for funeral services, and only received the cremains after several calls to Kent, the order states. After Mabry threatened to sue Hess for losing the eye, he said Hess wrote him a check: $500, a refund of the money Dunlap had paid to donate plus $5. According to Reuters Sunset Mesa Funeral Home had seen their call volume increase from 59 in 2015 to 128 in 2017. They are distinct from the organ and tissue transplant industry, which the U.S. government closely regulates. Chantal Reh, an Avon resident, went through a similar experience when she suffered a stillborn birth in August 2018. You are looking at how to make money.. At the time of publication, no charges had been filed against the coroner, though Colorado has suspended the business licenses for both funeral homes. 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. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 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 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. The home, located at 8215 W. Summerdale Ave., was sold for just shy of $400,000 in May 2021. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. By: Tony Kovaleski Posted at 6:00 PM, Oct 31, 2019 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. Now the women wonder how many others might have had the same experience. 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. His two shoulders went somewhere else. 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. 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. The other nine were structured as nonprofits, including Donor Services the only broker Reuters could find that still doubles as a funeral home. 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). Megan Hess, the former operator of a Montrose funeral home convicted of selling body parts without family consent, was . Now its possible its not my baby in the urn, Reh said. The Daily Sentinel reportsthat Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after entering the plea Tuesday in Grand Junction. Hess continues running a dual operation. 06, 2021. In 2020, authorities charged the two with mail fraud and illegal transportation of hazardous materials. Her father, Alan Koch, ran the crematory, Hess said. 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. It comes on the heels of a law passed in 2020 that. Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. Its a community struggling to understand the stories and the accusations about what happened in the back room at Sunset Mesa. Feb 4, 2023, 5:26 PM SGT. Twenty-six victims described their horror at discovering what had happened to their loved ones. ), 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. 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. Hess, however, charged families to donate their bodies $195, plus $300 more if relatives want cremated remains returned. It only investigates a funeral home if a complaint is filed, he said. Holloman now deals with the guilt of knowing details of what happened to her moms body. After reading the states suspension order this week, two women told The Denver Post that the circumstances surrounding E.W. sound eerily familiar. Funeral homes are required to register with the state, but spokesman Rasizer said the regulatory affairs department is not authorized to inspect mortuaries. John Wayne Gacy House: Now. Two funeral homes owned by Lake County Coroner Shannon Kent are under investigation after law enforcement earlier this month found an unrefrigerated body, an abandoned stillborn infant, bags of unl Jacque Hampson spent a year working as Hesss personal assistant. My mother and my mothers body has been desecrated.. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Colorado regulators can now inspect funeral homes and crematories without owners' permission The state has long had some of the laxest laws in the nation surrounding funeral homes Joe. The ex-employee said that she witnessed a collection of gold teeth that Hess mother allegedly extracted from the corpses fillings or crowns and that the familycashed in on the gold to pay for a trip to Disneyland in California. 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. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. I know these are not his ashes because his body parts went all over the country, Hanson said. In an interview in 2016, she described Donor Services as a small, family business. I just had the impression that something wasnt right all along. He said neither Hess nor Koch told him that his friends body parts would be sold. But two said Hess sometimes bragged about how lucrative it was to sell bodies and body parts. 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. Buyers ranged from educators and scientists to individuals in the medical industry. A funeral home in Crapaud, Prince Edward Island is under RCMP investigation for allegations of financial irregularities. Thats when E.W. In Colorado, there are few regulations to catch shoddy behavior, such as illegitimate body trading, by mortuaries. Koch's central role was chopping up the bodies, court records show. The suspension order details a 2019 instance in which an unnamed individual arranged with Kents funeral home for the cremation of their stillborn child. She mentioned on several occasions about how much money she would be getting per month, which blew my mind, said Jennifer Henderson, a former floral designer for Sunset Mesa. . Hancock is one of many family members who has learned the cremains she was given by the owners of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose contained items and materials that were not her husband. When Reuters reported earlier this year about the unusual twin businesses of owner Megan Hess, federal agents raided the facility and state regulators ordered the funeral home to be shut down. As she mourned the loss of her son, Cavanagh was referred to the Kent Funeral Home in Gypsum to do the cremation. 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. The allegations of offering free services and then selling body parts without the knowledge of the client family is beyond my scope of thinking as to what funeral directors should be doing. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. After reading the states suspension order this week, two women told The Denver Post that the circumstances surrounding E.W. sound eerily familiar. The attorney, Carol Viner, asked Reuters to refrain from contacting Hess employees for any reason.. Why Donor Services was unable to trace Dunlaps head remains unclear. A Colorado funeral home is accused of victimizing families after claims that it secretly sold body parts in the hours after death. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. 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. It was kinda creepy., It is totally unregulated, said Burg. The conflict of interest of having a side business in body parts just leads to problems. Colorado regulators have shut down the funeral home. Records from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies showthis was not the first time Kent has been in the crosshairs of state regulators. 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. Learn more about Colorado true crime stories in the gallery below. [the FBI told me] his head was sent to so and so. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, . Thank you, she said before ending the call. 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. A former employee has alleged misconduct regarding the disposal of the deceased at Golden Gate Funeral Home in Dallas. 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. There, authorities also found dried bodily fluid on surgical equipment, the metal preparation table, and the floor. 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. 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. He would not discuss the nature of those complaints or any action it may be taking. Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Last August, police received a complaint that funds provided to. Teselle said, Whats shocking to me is that theres not an outcry for there to be more legislation, theres not an outcry for the government to regulate and license these people.. Updated: 8:07 PM MDT September 14, 2021. 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. Its not something that can be fixed., Hancock was notified by the FBI that her husbands body parts had been sold without her consent. felt they were too heavy to be those of a stillborn child, and submitted them for analysis. 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 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. 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. And much like E.W. Other charges against Hess will . Further, the van was holding two other bodies that needed to be removed.. Mabry said Koch told him the glass eye couldnt be removed after Dunlaps head was severed, embalmed and shipped to researchers. Its tentacles go throughout not only the country but the world.. 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.. 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. It was kind of creepy.. . 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. 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. A Colorado funeral home is under federal investigation over accusations it doubled as a body broker firm, buying and selling human body parts, a Reuters special report revealed Tuesday. When Schum hesitated, Hess said she would waive the cremation fee if Schum agreed to donate her friend's bladder to science. 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. State Bans Coroner Shannon Kent From Private Business After Remains, Waste Found At Home-Based Colorado Funeral Home December 3, 2020 / 7:33 AM / CBS Colorado These people deserve to know why what was done to them was done to them. 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. A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The owner of the funeral homes, Shannon Kent, is also Lake Countys coroner. 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. Dunlap left one specific instruction: The glass eye that hed worn since a childhood accident should be removed and sent to his best friend. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. Market data provided by Factset. Koch told the judge she was sorry and took responsibility for her actions. Burg and Teselles law firm is currently suing body brokers in both Colorado and Arizona. Megan Hess, the owner of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, and her parents are now under investigation by the FBI. Body brokers sometimes market their services using language that could mislead prospective donors into believing the broker handles organ donations. A Colorado funeral home is accused of victimizing families after claims that it secretly sold body parts in the hours after death. 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. SCI 4Q Revenue and Year End Revenue lower than comparables, Funeral Director Daily, The business of Funeral Care. John Wayne Gacy's house has since been torn down and replaced with a new residence, built on the same land where Gacy reportedly buried many of his victims. The Donor Services brochure was criticized as deceptive by two major U.S. organ donation groups after Reuters shared it with them. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. GRAND JUNCTION A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes has pleaded guilty to mail fraud in federal court. More Reuters investigations and long-form narratives, Got a confidential news tip? The Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors and Donor Services building in Montrose, Colorado, U.S., December 16, 2017. 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. Like many, Hanson found out about her son Frederick during a phone call from an FBI agent. These illegitimate businesses are buying and selling body parts just like anything off the shelf at Walmart, added Teselle. The lawsuit estimates the three were making $40,000 a month from the sale of body parts. He covers everything from stolen art and towing to mobile homes and quirky stories that defy category. 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. In one instance, on March 10, 2019, Staci Kent was significantly delayed to the scene because the van she was using to pick up the body had a dead battery, bald tires and was buried in snow, prosecutors alleged. All they got was the urn and a death certificate no other paperwork. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. Sam Tabachnik is a roving reporter for The Denver Post, focusing on stories outside metro Denver. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. He has served as Lake County coroner since 2012 and was reelected to a four-year term in November 2018. Pictures show bodies stacked in hallways and unrefrigerated rental trucks. Take a look at some of Colorado's most notorious crimes. At Sunset Mesa, Hess charged $1,995 for a simple burial and $695 for a basic cremation, according to price lists reviewed by Reuters. Did you ever consent to have this family mutilate your husbands body? asked Denver7. We were greeted at the door by her father, who told us to leave the property. The details of the plea agreement are unknown, but a trial for Hess' mother is still on track to proceed. by Mr. Leadville | Oct 26, 2020 | Leadville News. 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. Hiring funeral directors: Do you look for IQ or EQ? Officials also found the "post-cremation remains" of 16 people, according . All rights reserved. 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. 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 . It is a business and it is a profit business, added Burg. The judge ordered that Hess and Koch be sent to prison immediately. This comes after a dozen . (William Woody, Special to the Colorado Sun), Lawmakers targeting hospital facility fees, (720) 263-2338 Call, text, Signal or WhatsApp, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. On at least three occasions, Staci Kent allegedly responded to calls from law enforcement requesting a coroner at a death scene, according to the indictment. With a population of about 20,000, Montrose is a community surrounded by the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. The report also noted that a former employee at Sunset Mesa was troubled by Hess mother, who was responsible for embalming and dismembering the dead bodies. Kent operates six funeral homes in the states high country, which also include Buena Vista, Fairplay, Idaho Springs, and Silverthorne. Bailey-Kent Funeral Home, pictured at left, is one of two funeral homes owned by Shannon Kent now under criminal investigation. But the business arrangement is highly unusual. Hess made donating a body online easy. 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. Unfortunately, the attention wasn't focused on the town's natural beauty or tourism opportunities. . 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. Its really an underground industry that most people dont know about, said attorney Michael Burg. A woman in Colorado has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for illegally selling body parts. But days went by and she couldnt reach anyone. Suppliers of transplant tissue must obtain federal recognition and operate as charities. Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. A pelvis with upper legs went for $1,200, heads for $500, a knee for $250, and a foot for $125, according to a 2013 Donor Services price list reviewed by Reuters. According to theDenver Post, prosecutors reached a plea agreement with Hess this year regarding a 2020 indictment against her and her mother. Some former staff members of Sunset Mesa said they never heard Hess disclose to donors that the bodies would be sold for profit. PUBLISHED 8:21 PM CT Apr. It is illegal to buy or sell organs such as hearts, kidneys and tendons for transplant. It described a body broker as a company that acquires dead bodies, dissects them and sells the parts for profit to medical researchers, training organizations and other buyers.. You are not looking at the full disposition (of a body). While Sunset Mesa legally is permitted to own and operate both businesses, Reuters found that there was no other active instance where a funeral home, crematory and body broker had the same owner and were in the same facility. No one would pick up the phone. But no federal law governs the sale of cadavers or body parts for use in research or education.