See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. some timely learning opportunities for our readers, Dont forget Low-tech to build your brand. Telling stories that matter in a dynamic, evolving state. . Six people were killed, including federal District Court Chief Judge John Roll; Gabe Zimmerman, one of Giffords's staffers; and a 9-year-old girl . Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. pleaded guilty to fraud in July after a . 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. When Schum hesitated, Hess said she would waive the cremation fee if Schum agreed to donate her friend's bladder to science. Twenty-five of the brokers were for-profit corporations. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The transfers were done through Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation and Donor Services, authorities said. One of Hesss donors was Rex Dunlap, a frugal Coloradan battling brain cancer. She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity, Donor Services, from the same building in Montrose, Colorado. 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. Authorities also uncovered multiple refrigerated bodies which were wrapped in sheets or blankets but did not have any tags or paperwork identifying them. The Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors and Donor Services building in Montrose, Colorado, U.S., December 16, 2017. Im not interested. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. Body of complaints piled up: State knew of funeral home concerns long Staci Kent, however, wouldnt let them see the baby, Reh said. N.Y. Nursing Home Under Investigation After Woman Declared Dead Found 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. 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. 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. They are distinct from the organ and tissue transplant industry, which the U.S. government closely regulates. I see his body parts floating in space and I keep trying to grab them and put him back and I can't! Its a community struggling to understand the stories and the accusations about what happened in the back room at Sunset Mesa. More Reuters investigations and long-form narratives, Got a confidential news tip? As she mourned the loss of her son, Cavanagh was referred to the Kent Funeral Home in Gypsum to do the cremation. Leaking body bags, unrefrigerated remains: Colorado funeral homes under Colorado funeral home known for history of misconduct | AP News 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. Megan Hess pleads guilty, faces 20 years in prison - The Colorado Sun The news agency had also sent written questions to Hess and her attorney about Kochs alleged handling of gold teeth. 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. 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. After receiving the cremains, E.W. Market data provided by Factset. Colorado regulators can now inspect funeral homes and crematories Colorado funeral home owner Megan Hess and her mother who sold body 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. 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. All they got was the urn and a death certificate no other paperwork. A Colorado funeral home is under federal investigation over accusations it doubledas a body broker firm, buying and selling human body parts, aReuters special report revealedTuesday. Instead, the media was interested in the dark history behind the town's funeral home, Sunset Mesa. 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. Further, the van was holding two other bodies that needed to be removed.. ", Funeral home remains under federal investigation. Funeral-home owner gets 20 years in prison for cutting up dead bodies The 20-year term was the maximum allowed under law. Her revised online biography cited her high school degree and a love of veterinary medicine.. Amid FBI investigation, state closes case on Montrose funeral home Its sickening, said Hanson. Hess committed crimes, prosecutors said, when she defrauded relatives of the deceased by lying about cremations and by dissecting bodies and selling them without permission. This all began when a severely decomposed body was reported by a state health inspector. 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 . In 2020, authorities charged the two with mail fraud and illegal transportation of hazardous materials. I'll never be OK.". Jacque Hampson spent a year working as Hesss personal assistant. 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. 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. We did not provide our messaging to be repurposed in this brochure, and are following up, said spokeswoman Erin Dolin. With a population of about 20,000, Montrose is a community surrounded by the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. Hess, along with her mother and father, are all named in a lawsuit, which accuses them of using a backroom to dismember cadavers with a power saw and stack body parts in coolers. Bailey-Kent Funeral Home, pictured at left, is one of two funeral homes owned by Shannon Kent now under criminal investigation. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Specifics of the scope of theFBI investigation are unclear. The Justice Department did not respond to Fox News' request for comment. The Daily Sentinel reportsthat Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after entering the plea Tuesday in Grand Junction. . Hess and Koch also shipped bodies and body parts that tested positive for, or belonged to people who died from, infectious diseases including Hepatitis B and C, and HIV, despite certifying to buyers that the remains were disease-free, authorities said. Reuters Investigates offers several ways to securely contact our reporters. Charles "Paul" Lynch Obituary (1953 - 2023) | Yuma, Colorado Updated: 8:07 PM MDT September 14, 2021. The Lake County Sheriffs Office confirmed an active criminal investigation is underway. Reuters identified 34 body brokers that have been active across the United States during the past five years. I didnt believe in depression until I lost my baby, Cavanagh said. We were greeted at the door by her father, who told us to leave the property. felt they were too heavy to be those of a stillborn child, and submitted them for analysis. Colorado Funeral Home Owners Charged With Brokering Body Parts TX Funeral Service Commission Investigating Golden Gate - Spectrum News Megan Hess, the former operator of a Montrose funeral home convicted of selling body parts without family consent, was . 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. She said that one month she got about $40,000 from selling donated bodies. "Our sweet mother, they dismembered her," Erin Smith said, selling her shoulders, knees and feet for profit. Staci Kent arrived to one of those death scenes without a body bag, which spurred an argument with authorities, the indictment notes. (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. Finally Reh and her boyfriend went to the funeral home with the expectation that they would see their baby. This whole situation, oh, I thought it was part of my past.. Kent kept giving excuses, Cavanagh said. The funeral home's owners, Megan Hess, 43, and her mother . Sunset Mesa Funeral Home Operators Arrested For Illegal Body Part In another call two months later, Staci Kent responded to a death scene without a body bag, the indictment states, which led to an argument with law enforcement. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Colorado Funeral Homes. Why Donor Services was unable to trace Dunlaps head remains unclear. State investigates 'Buried by the Bernards' funeral home - WREG.com After receiving the cremains, E.W. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. 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. On Oct. 13, the state shut down both the Gypsum operation and . Andrew Scheid has been the director at . When asked if it contained her husbands cremains, she said, I dont know.. As a result, Peck and his funeral home were required to pay a $2,500 fine and $5,000 in investigative costs and attorney fees. But it provided an important public service, she said. Email: newsroom@coloradosun.com Koch's central role was chopping up the bodies, court records show. Buyers ranged from educators and scientists to individuals in the medical industry. 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. MILLERSVILLE, Pa. (WHTM) A Lancaster County funeral home and its director are facing formal disciplinary action and are under investigation by the state. The Daily Sentinel reports that Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after entering the plea Tuesday in Grand Junction. 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. In reality, Burg added, they are just trying to get those bodies free and then they are going to chop them up themselves in parts and make money off the bodies.. But no federal law governs the sale of cadavers or body parts for use in research or education. Some of those family members are now questioning if the services were held free of charge while Donor Services sent some of the remains (body parts) to clients for payments without the knowledge and consent of family members. Denver attorneys Mike Berg and Dave Teselle now represent more than 50 families who claim Hess and her parents victimized them. Now its possible its not my baby in the urn, Reh said. 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. Thats when E.W. It is illegal in the United States to sell organs such as hearts, kidneys and tendons for transplant; they must be donated. At the focal point of the FBI probe: funeral director Megan Hess, who did not return Fox News request for a comment. SCI 4Q Revenue and Year End Revenue lower than comparables, Funeral Director Daily, The business of Funeral Care. The legislation has support from the state's largest trade association for funeral homes, the Colorado Funeral Directors Association. Hess' mother, Shirley Koch, has also been indicted. Learn more about Colorado true crime stories in the gallery below. And much like E.W. 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. did not receive a contract for funeral services, and only received the cremains after several calls to Kent, the order states. In another call two months later, Staci Kent responded to a death scene without a body bag, the indictment states, which led to an argument with law enforcement. Body brokers like Donor Services are also known as non-transplant tissue banks. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. 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. 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. A change of plea hearing for Koch is scheduled for July 12. (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. Sam Tabachnik is a roving reporter for The Denver Post, focusing on stories outside metro Denver. They were affiliated with her funeral business. Hess continues running a dual operation. Colorado woman sentenced to 20 years for stealing, selling body parts I went through a very bad crisis losing the baby, Cavanagh said. In Colorado and most other states, it's legal for funeral homes to sell items taken from corpses, including the gold found in teeth. On January 8, 2011, U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords and 18 others were shot during a constituent meeting held in a supermarket parking lot in Casas Adobes, Arizona, in the Tucson metropolitan area. Records from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies showthis was not the first time Kent has been in the crosshairs of state regulators. 'Tragic' cases prompt bill making it easier to inspect Colorado funeral Finally Reh and her boyfriend went to the funeral home with the expectation that they would see their baby. 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. 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. 31 decomposed bodies, cremated remains discovered during Clark - WAVE It can't be fixed, said Hancock. After losing his ability to conduct cremation or funeral home services in December, Kent's Silverthorne funeral parlor sat empty until this month when the new tenant, Colorado Funeral Homes . What You Need To Know. State Bans Coroner Shannon Kent From Private Business After Remains 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. His two shoulders went somewhere else. Colorado Funeral Home Caught Selling Bodies Intended For Cremation After reading the states suspension order this week, two women told The Denver Post that the circumstances surrounding E.W. sound eerily familiar. Its for the good of the world, and I like to help people, Hess said. 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 kept giving excuses, Cavanagh said. The most expensive prices were for an upper torso that included a head and arms ($4,000) and the cost of an entire body was $5,000, according to the price list. But days went by and she couldnt reach anyone. Colo. funeral home accused of doubling as body parts broker - KMGH SENTINEL FILE PHOTO Sisters Layna and Janet Hutt hold photos of their father, Raymond Hutt, who died in 2016 at the age of 96. (Google). At Sunset Mesa, Hess charged $1,995 for a simple burial and $695 for a basic cremation, according to price lists reviewed by Reuters. The article also tells about how Sunset Mesa Funeral Home handled some services free of charge. DALLAS The Texas Funeral Service Commission says it has opened an investigation into allegations of the mishandling of corpses at one of the most high-profile mortuaries in the state. Funeral homes are required to register with the state, but spokesman Rasizer said the regulatory affairs department is not authorized to inspect mortuaries. Some former staff members of Sunset Mesa said they never heard Hess disclose to donors that the bodies would be sold for profit. He had been dismembered. Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after entering the plea Tuesday in Grand Junction, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Members of the FBI, along with Montrose law enforcement investigate the Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors and Donor Services building Tuesday morning, February 6, 2018. Paul Hawthorne, Getty Images. No one returned her voicemails. Hess, however, charged families to donate their bodies $195, plus $300 more if relatives want cremated remains returned. Staci Kent, however, wouldnt let them see the baby, Reh said. 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.. Investigators discovered 31 dead bodies, some of which were in advanced stages of decomposition. Lancaster County funeral home under investigation for misconduct A Colorado funeral home is accused of victimizing families after claims that it secretly sold body parts in the hours after death. She took orders for body parts via Hotmail, email records show. 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 . The lawsuit estimates the three were making $40,000 a month from the sale of body parts. 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.. Thousands more patients could benefit from life saving and healing eye and tissue donations.. 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. The New York Times, a far-left outlet, admitted in a report that Trump's rollback of a rule from President Barack