Non-compete agreements, Customer Experience, Community Engagement. 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. Most brokers who sell body parts offer to cremate part of the donors body for free. This compassionate help is the essence of what we do. The recent parade of early deaths has hit close to home. You know, they can't put his head back on his body, they can't put his arms and legs back on his body. . Instead, the media was interested in the dark history behind the town's funeral home, Sunset Mesa. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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 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. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Former workers told Reuters that Hess and Koch conducted unauthorized dismemberments of bodies, and a few weeks after a 2018 story was published, the FBI raided the business. 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. 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. Such a partnership may raise ethical concerns because it creates a financial incentive for the funeral home. Megan Hess, 46, operated the Sunset Mesa funeral home in Montrose, Colorado, alongside a body-parts entity called Donor Services, where she undertook the grisly scheme, starting in 2010. 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. 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. 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. 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. Take a look at some of Colorado's most notorious crimes. Details uncovered in the FBI investigation were shared with her. 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. Other staff members also said that it was never disclosed to donor families that the corpses would be sold for profit a potentially illegal practice. are acquisitions larger in general? 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. and Cavanagh, Reh had an immensely difficult time reaching the Kents, the phone ringing unanswered for weeks. According to Reuters Sunset Mesa Funeral Home had seen their call volume increase from 59 in 2015 to 128 in 2017. That means almost anyone, regardless of expertise, can dissect and sell human remains. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. 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. Be an organ donor, a slogan often used by organ transplant advocates. Colorado does not regulate body brokers. A former employee has alleged misconduct regarding the disposal of the deceased at Golden Gate Funeral Home in Dallas. Her 69-year-old mother, Shirley Koch, also pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to 15 years. 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. 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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, The name of the state is derived form the Spanish . The gruesome details of the case which authorities say included more than 500 victims drew international attention and shined a light on the . (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. The owner of the funeral homes, Shannon Kent, is also Lake Countys coroner. Weeks passed before Hess told him that Donor Services couldnt retrieve the glass eye because the company couldnt locate the researcher who received Dunlaps head, Mabry said. In Colorado, there are few regulations to catch shoddy behavior, such as illegitimate body trading, by mortuaries. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. I go to sleep with the visions of him being dismembered with a power saw, said Ruthie Pettyjohn, whose sons body parts were allegedly sold. Contact7 Chief Investigative Reporter Tony Kovaleski traveled to Montrose and talked to more than a half dozen family members now victims about what they describe as a scheme to profit from their pain. In Colorado and most other states, it also is legal for funeral homes to sell items recovered from dead bodies, such as gold dental work. 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. Megan Hess, the former operator of a Montrose funeral home convicted of selling body parts without family consent, was . The New York Times, a far-left outlet, admitted in a report that Trump's rollback of a rule from President Barack There, authorities also found dried bodily fluid on surgical equipment, the metal preparation table, and the floor. His two shoulders went somewhere else. 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. Records from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies showthis was not the first time Kent has been in the crosshairs of state regulators. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. I didnt believe in depression until I lost my baby, Cavanagh said. The news agency had also sent written questions to Hess and her attorney about Kochs alleged handling of gold teeth. A funeral home in Crapaud, Prince Edward Island is under RCMP investigation for allegations of financial irregularities. One ex-employee, Kari Escher, said she was especially troubled by the practices of Hesss mother, Shirley Koch, who works at the facility. Prosecutors said she lied to more than 200 families, who received cremated ashes from bins mixed with the remains of different cadavers. The attorney, Carol Viner, asked Reuters to refrain from contacting Hess employees for any reason.. Her funeral home site listed her credentials, including a PhD in mortuary science. The Lake County Sheriffs Office confirmed an active criminal investigation is underway. Colorado Funeral Homes. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Records from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies showthis was not the first time Kent has been in the crosshairs of state regulators. And much like E.W. A few days later, she was able to pick up the cremains, but like E.W., Cavanagh received no paperwork. The Daily Sentinel Megan Hess Hancock is one of more than five dozen family members currently suing the family that operated the now shut-down Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose. 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. Fells called running such a multifaceted operation a new frontier., Through the attorney, Hess declined to comment for this story and didnt address questions about the FBI probe, her business practices, and the allegations by former employees. The Bailey-Kent Funeral Home was the only option given to her for cremation under a certain weight, she said. These people deserve to know why what was done to them was done to them. Reuters identified 34 body brokers that have been active across the United States during the past five years. The couple got dressed up in matching outfits and brought a special camera. 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. (Google). The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. 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. Its a profit business. Both have become experts on the secret industry of selling body parts on a world wide market. 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. In the late aughts, the town of Montrose, Colorado, made national headlines. ", Tina Shanon, whose mother was dismembered against her will, told the court, "I've worn many masks to cover the pain. 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. N.Y. . Enter your email address to join 3,177 readers who subscribe to all Funeral Director articles. Instead of paying the standard $695 cremation fee to . 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. I thought it was something that needs to be corrected," said state Senator Larry Crowder, one of the bills sponsors. Holloman now deals with the guilt of knowing details of what happened to her moms body. Hess made donating a body online easy. 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). High Country News reports that, duringthe initial investigation, the FBI tested 128 samples of remains tied to Sunset Mesa. But the business arrangement is highly unusual. Other charges against Hess will . 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. and Cavanagh, Reh had an immensely difficult time reaching the Kents, the phone ringing unanswered for weeks. Seeing how this chapter is opening up again is incredible, its unbelievable. parents are now under investigation by the FBI. Neither addressed the issue about the teeth. Investigators discovered 31 dead bodies, some of which were in advanced stages of decomposition. Learn more about Colorado true crime stories in the gallery below. Legal Statement. She said that one month she got about $40,000 from selling donated bodies. 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. Finally Reh and her boyfriend went to the funeral home with the expectation that they would see their baby. 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. The other nine were structured as nonprofits, including Donor Services the only broker Reuters could find that still doubles as a funeral home. 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. 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. 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. The. On Monday, the family of Ramon Lara Castillo a 63-year-old Nashville house painter who succumbed to liver cancer in October 2020 filed a federal lawsuit against former funeral director Reid Van Ness and the operators of a funeral home in Lewisburg, Tenn. Roommates and friends of Castillo paid Van Ness $1,800 to ship the body home to his . The Denver attorney is referring to the limited and nonexistent regulation nationwide and worldwide regarding the procurement and selling of bodies and body parts. 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. Dunlap left one specific instruction: The glass eye that hed worn since a childhood accident should be removed and sent to his best friend. The NBC10 Investigators found bodies inside an unlicensed funeral home in Chester, Pennsylvania. In February of 2018, Colorado regulators shut down the funeral home at the same time the FBI was investigating claims families did not receive the real cremains of their loved ones. You are not looking at the full disposition (of a body). He has served as Lake County coroner since 2012 and was reelected to a four-year term in November 2018. Now the women wonder how many others might have had the same experience. . Its tentacles go throughout not only the country but the world.. Jan 3 (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. Twenty-six victims described their horror at discovering what had happened to their loved ones. 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. Sam Tabachnik is a roving reporter for The Denver Post, focusing on stories outside metro Denver. Before referring questions to a lawyer, Hess spoke extensively with Reuters about her body broker company. 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.