A Colorado funeral home operator who was accused of selling and stealing body parts pleaded guilty to mail fraud on Tuesday, the US justice department . 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. E.W. 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. Two months later, after hearing nothing from Hess, Schum went to Sunset Mesa to retrieve her friend's ashes. It is illegal in the United States to sell organs such as hearts, kidneys and tendons for transplant; they must be donated. Separate from the FBI inquiry, Reuters has learned that Colorado state funeral regulators are investigating Hesss funeral home, Sunset Mesa. 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. 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. A spokeswoman for Donate LifeAmerica said in an email that Hesss firm is not a federally designated organ procurement organization and has no permission to use the Donate Life brand. POCATELLO, Idaho A Pocatello funeral home under investigation by the Idaho Board of Morticians has had its licenses revoked. 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. The suspension order details a 2019 instance in which an unnamed individual arranged with Kents funeral home for the cremation of their stillborn child. 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. The funeral home's owners, Megan Hess, 43, and her mother . The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. Kent also operates funeral homes in Silverthorne, Idaho Springs, Fairplay and Buena Vista. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our. When asked if it contained her husbands cremains, she said, I dont know.. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 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. some timely learning opportunities for our readers, Dont forget Low-tech to build your brand. 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. 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. and Cavanagh, Reh had an immensely difficult time reaching the Kents, the phone ringing unanswered for weeks. . 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. Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors of Montrose handled the funeral . Her 69-year-old mother, Shirley Koch, also pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to 15 years. 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. 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. 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. They were affiliated with her funeral business. The eye was never returned, said Eberspacher and Dunlaps friend, Ron Mabry. Hess had created a nonprofit organization in 2009 called Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation as a body-broker service doing business as Donor Services, authorities said. Unfortunately, the attention wasn't focused on the town's natural beauty or tourism opportunities. (McGovern said no industry regulated by the Division of Professions and Occupations has regulators assigned exclusively to it.) According to Jeffersonville Police Major Isaac Parker, the department began its investigation of the Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center in Jeffersonville on Friday. Dunlap left one specific instruction: The glass eye that hed worn since a childhood accident should be removed and sent to his best friend. 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. 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. Im not interested. Instead of paying the standard $695 cremation fee to Colorado Cremation, Hesss former cremation marketing business, Dunlap paid Hess $495 to take his body. Further, the van was holding two other bodies that needed to be removed.. felt they were too heavy to be those of a stillborn child, and submitted them for analysis. He has served as Lake County coroner since 2012 and was reelected to a four-year term in November 2018. 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. SENTINEL FILE PHOTO Sisters Layna and Janet Hutt hold photos of their father, Raymond Hutt, who died in 2016 at the age of 96. 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. A former employee has alleged misconduct regarding the disposal of the deceased at Golden Gate Funeral Home in Dallas. They desecrated his little body, she said. The Daily Sentinel reportsthat Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after entering the plea Tuesday in Grand Junction. With a population of about 20,000, Montrose is a community surrounded by the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. The 20-year term was the maximum allowed under law. Golden Gate Funeral Home in Dallas is accused of a range of misdeeds, from not embalming or refrigerating bodies in a . 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. 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. Connie Hansons sons body parts were also allegedly sold. The other nine were structured as nonprofits, including Donor Services the only broker Reuters could find that still doubles as a funeral home. As funeral directors, while we dont do everything perfect, we should have the best interest of our client families at heart. 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. Megan Hess, the owner of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, and her parents are now under investigation by the FBI. 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. 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. But days went by and she couldnt reach anyone. Instead of paying the standard $695 cremation fee to . 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. A change of plea hearing for Koch is scheduled for July 12. Twenty-six victims described their horror at discovering what had happened to their loved ones. Each edition is filled with exclusive news, analysis and other behind-the-scenes information you wont find anywhere else. 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 06, 2021. 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. 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. "We don't even have a name for a crime this heinous. are acquisitions larger in general? 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. 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Golden Gate's owner denies all allegations. 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. 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. According to Reuters Sunset Mesa Funeral Home had seen their call volume increase from 59 in 2015 to 128 in 2017. Neither addressed the issue about the teeth. Buyers ranged from educators and scientists to individuals in the medical industry. One of Hesss donors was Rex Dunlap, a frugal Coloradan battling brain cancer. They cut him up in pieces and sent them all over the place.. 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. Its sickening, said Hanson. All rights reserved. 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. 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. The 20-year term was the maximum allowed under law. The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. Hess continues running a dual operation. 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. Colorado is nicknamed the "Centennial State" because when it became the 38th state, the United States turned 100 on August 1, 1876. In Colorado, there are few regulations to catch shoddy behavior, such as illegitimate body trading, by mortuaries. 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. However, there was more going on beneath the surface. 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 federal inquiry began several months ago, shortly after Reuters interviewed a half-dozen workers who formerly worked for Hess. It comes on the heels of a law passed in 2020 that. The charges defray the cost of picking up the deceased, she said in the 2016 interview. Megan Hess, 46, pleaded guilty to fraud in July. . 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. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. [the FBI told me] his head was sent to so and so. The body was identified as that of 42 . Prosecutors said she lied to more than 200 families, who received cremated ashes from bins mixed with the remains of different cadavers. They are struggling with claims she created a product with a power saw and angry that she ultimately profited from the sale of arms, heads legs, torsos even whole bodies. She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity, Donor Services, from the same building in Montrose, Colorado. Authorities also uncovered multiple refrigerated bodies which were wrapped in sheets or blankets but did not have any tags or paperwork identifying them. This content was originally published here. A few days later, she was able to pick up the cremains, but like E.W., Cavanagh received no paperwork. ", Tina Shanon, whose mother was dismembered against her will, told the court, "I've worn many masks to cover the pain. Andrew Scheid has been the director at . A A A Colorado-based funeral home director has been sentenced to 20 years in prison stemming from a litany of charges including fraud and illegally selling the body parts or bodies of approximately 500 individuals whose families did not consent to that practice. When Reuters visited her facility in 2016, Hess said Donor Services represented just 15 percent or so of her total business. A Colorado funeral home is accused of victimizing families after claims that it secretly sold body parts in the hours after death. 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. Megan Hess, the owner of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, and her parents are now under investigation by the FBI. The New York Times, a far-left outlet, admitted in a report that Trump's rollback of a rule from President Barack (REUTERS). Shannon and Staci Kent, 45, of Leadville were charged on Friday with attempted tampering with a deceased human body. After reading the states suspension order this week, two women told The Denver Post that the circumstances surrounding E.W. sound eerily familiar. 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 reality of body brokers profiting from the sale of body parts has made national and international headlines following government raids in Arizona and Colorado in recent years. These people deserve to know why what was done to them was done to them. Be an organ donor, a slogan often used by organ transplant advocates. felt they were too heavy to be those of a stillborn child, and submitted them for analysis. Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Just about any adult can run for coroner in Colorado. 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. 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. "Our sweet mother, they dismembered her," Erin Smith said, selling her shoulders, knees and feet for profit. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Feb 4, 2023, 5:26 PM SGT. 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. The Daily Sentinel reports that Megan Hess faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison after entering the plea Tuesday in Grand Junction. The suspension order details a 2019 instance in which an unnamed individual arranged with Kents funeral home for the cremation of their stillborn child. Colorado regulators have shut down the funeral home. I went through a very bad crisis losing the baby, Cavanagh said. Colorado does not regulate body brokers. Its not something that can be fixed., Hancock was notified by the FBI that her husbands body parts had been sold without her consent. In 2009, Hess also created a nonprofit called Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation, d/b/a Donor Services, a body broker service operated out of the same location as SMFD. "Hess and Koch's conduct caused immense emotional pain for the families and next of kin.". Now its possible its not my baby in the urn, Reh said. She took orders for body parts via Hotmail, email records show. Sam Tabachnik is a roving reporter for The Denver Post, focusing on stories outside metro Denver. 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. MONTROSE, Colo. A Colorado funeral home is accused of victimizing families after claims that it secretly sold body parts in the hours after death. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. The recent parade of early deaths has hit close to home. More by The Associated Press, Got a story tip? The home, located at 8215 W. Summerdale Ave., was sold for just shy of $400,000 in May 2021. I thought it was something that needs to be corrected," said state Senator Larry Crowder, one of the bills sponsors. Such multipurpose operations raise ethical concerns, several funeral industry veterans said. Updated: 8:07 PM MDT September 14, 2021. 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. Propel Funeral Partners makes acquisitions. 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. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. Hancocks story started after her husband, Thomas, passed away. 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. Its a profit business. (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. Her funeral home site listed her credentials, including a PhD in mortuary science. 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. At Donor Services, her body parts business, Hess can generate a greater return on the dead, a different price list reviewed by Reuters showed. Body brokers like Donor Services are also known as non-transplant tissue banks. Extra charges are assessed if a body is embalmed or a funeral director is involved. One ex-employee, Kari Escher, said she was especially troubled by the practices of Hesss mother, Shirley Koch, who works at the facility. As she mourned the loss of her son, Cavanagh was referred to the Kent Funeral Home in Gypsum to do the cremation. Records from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies showthis was not the first time Kent has been in the crosshairs of state regulators. And as of. 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. Hess' mother, Shirley Koch, has also been indicted. Reached by phone at Sunset Mesa, Koch said she did not wish to talk with a Reuters reporter. A human head and spine sold for $850, while a full pelvis all the way to the toes priced out at $2,850. The true-crime podcast "Criminal," which covered the story in its 131st episode, reports that when Grand Junction resident Debbie Schum visited Sunset Mesa after the death of her friend in 2017, the funeral home's director, Megan Hess, told Schum that she could not provide cremation services unless Schum paid her $1,000 upfront. Kent operates six funeral homes in the states high country, which also include Buena Vista, Fairplay, Idaho Springs, and Silverthorne. 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. 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. 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. Reuters Investigates offers several ways to securely contact our reporters. The news agency had also sent written questions to Hess and her attorney about Kochs alleged handling of gold teeth. She showed me her collection of gold teeth one day, said Escher, who helped manage a former cremation-marketing business owned by Hess. Finally Reh and her boyfriend went to the funeral home with the expectation that they would see their baby. In the late aughts, the town of Montrose, Colorado, made national headlines. Kent kept giving excuses, Cavanagh said. 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. PUBLISHED 8:21 PM CT Apr. Funeral Director Daily take: I have a hard time fathoming what may have went on at this funeral home. Lake County coroner Shannon Kent owns both the Bailey-Kent Funeral Home in Leadville about 100 miles southeast of Denver and the Kent Funeral Home Gypsum about 133 miles west of the Mile High City, The Denver Post reported Friday. 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. Drop us a note at tips@coloradosun.com. She said that one month she got about $40,000 from selling donated bodies. The next year,. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 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. But it provided an important public service, she said. A Colorado funeral home operator accused of illegally selling body parts and giving clients fake ashes has been sentenced to 20 years in prison By The Associated Press January 4, 2023, 12:16 AM 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. ThinkStock via Getty Images. 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. Investigation into the allegations are ongoing with the Texas Funeral Services . I didnt believe in depression until I lost my baby, Cavanagh said. It was kind of creepy.. Pam Boyd/pboyd@vaildaily.com. (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. On her cremation marketing website, a donor could simply select from a drop-down menu, fill out a few forms, click Add to Cart, and enter a credit card number. The judge ordered that Hess and Koch be sent to prison immediately. Non-compete agreements, Customer Experience, Community Engagement. Now the women wonder how many others might have had the same experience. She did. In addition, a lawsuit has been filed by Shirley Hollenback and her daughter alleging that the remains she received purported to be the cremation ashes of her husband are somebody elses remains and not those of her husband. 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. 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. There are no ethics there when you do that.. Holloman now deals with the guilt of knowing details of what happened to her moms body. The startling discovery led to a further investigation of oversight in the funeral industry. Torsos are a popular specimen these days, she wrote. U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello on Tuesday sentenced Hess, 46, to 20 years in prison the maximum allowable for her role in a nearly decade-long scheme to sell body parts without the.
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