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. . Like many, Hanson found out about her son Frederick during a phone call from an FBI agent. Its tentacles go throughout not only the country but the world.. MONTROSE, Colo. A Colorado funeral home is accused of victimizing families after claims that it secretly sold body parts in the hours after death. Golden Gate Funeral Home in Dallas is accused of a range of misdeeds, from not embalming or refrigerating bodies in a . 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. . According to High Country News, Hess was running the funeral home in conjunction with a non-profit called Donor Services Inc., through which she sold "donated" body parts to companies a practice referred to as body brokering. Shannon and Staci Kent did not respond to interview requests from The Denver Post. The Bailey-Kent Funeral Home was the only option given to her for cremation under a certain weight, she said. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Investigators discovered 31 dead bodies, some of which were in advanced stages of decomposition. 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. More Reuters investigations and long-form narratives, Got a confidential news tip? [wpforms id=436 title=true description=true]. 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. 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. That means almost anyone, regardless of expertise, can dissect and sell human remains. 06, 2021. Family and friends can send flowers and condolences in memory of the loved one. It is a business and it is a profit business, added Burg. She told Contact7 Investigates that she heard bodies being dismembered. Reuters Investigates offers several ways to securely contact our reporters. . "Hess and Koch used their funeral home at times to essentially steal bodies and body parts using fraudulent and forged donor forms," prosecutor Tim Neff said in a court filing. Before he died in 2016, the 78-year-old retired contractor saved $200 on cremation by agreeing to pledge parts of his body to Donor Services. Her funeral home site listed her credentials, including a PhD in mortuary science. Megan Hess, the former operator of a Montrose funeral home convicted of selling body parts without family consent, was . No such degree exists in the United States for morticians, veteran funeral directors say. Such multipurpose operations raise ethical concerns, several funeral industry veterans said. I'll never be OK.". 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. Non-compete agreements, Customer Experience, Community Engagement. Chantal Reh. The suspension order details a 2019 instance in which an unnamed individual arranged with Kents funeral home for the cremation of their stillborn child. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Megan Hess, the owner of Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, and her parents are now under investigation by the FBI. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Justice Department did not respond to Fox News' request for comment. The eye was never returned, said Eberspacher and Dunlaps friend, Ron Mabry. Hess runs Sunset Mesa, a funeral home, and Donor Services, a body broker operation from the same building in Montrose. Investigation into the allegations are ongoing with the Texas Funeral Services . 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. The owner of the funeral homes, Shannon Kent, is also Lake Countys coroner. These people deserve to know why what was done to them was done to them. His two shoulders went somewhere else. 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. To betray that help, in a way that the businesses here are alleged to have done, brings nothing but a lack of credibility to all funeral service professionals. And as of. 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. Subscribe today to see what all the buzz is about. 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. Instead, the media was interested in the dark history behind the town's funeral home, Sunset Mesa. The couple got dressed up in matching outfits and brought a special camera. Bailey-Kent Funeral Home, pictured at left, is one of two funeral homes owned by Shannon Kent now under criminal investigation. High Country News reports that, duringthe initial investigation, the FBI tested 128 samples of remains tied to Sunset Mesa. John Wayne Gacy House: Now. "This is the most emotionally draining case I have ever experienced on the bench," U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello said during Tuesday's sentencing hearing in Grand Junction, Colorado. The federal inquiry began several months ago, shortly after Reuters interviewed a half-dozen workers who formerly worked for Hess. 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). ", Tina Shanon, whose mother was dismembered against her will, told the court, "I've worn many masks to cover the pain. Neither addressed the issue about the teeth. SCI 4Q Revenue and Year End Revenue lower than comparables, Funeral Director Daily, The business of Funeral Care. A former employee has alleged misconduct regarding the disposal of the deceased at Golden Gate Funeral Home in Dallas. or redistributed. and Cavanagh, Reh had an immensely difficult time reaching the Kents, the phone ringing unanswered for weeks. I said I dont want to hear anymore.. The attorney, Carol Viner, asked Reuters to refrain from contacting Hess employees for any reason.. In 2020, authorities charged the two with mail fraud and illegal transportation of hazardous materials. The back of the brochure featured the logo Donate Life, the national brand that promotes organ donation and is managed by Donate Life America, a nonprofit group. 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. Connie Hansons sons body parts were also allegedly sold. 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. Pam Boyd/[email protected]. did not receive a contract for funeral services, and only received the cremains after several calls to Kent, the order states. 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. 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. Leave a sympathy message to the family on the memorial page of Charles Lynch to pay them a last tribute. She has been told parts of her husbands body were sold on the world-wide market. 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. 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. Why Donor Services was unable to trace Dunlaps head remains unclear. Pettyjohn now lives with the memory of what happened to the body of her 26-year-old son, Brian. Learn more about Colorado true crime stories in the gallery below. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Andrew Scheid has been the director at . Reuters identified 34 body brokers that have been active across the United States during the past five years. The state's Department of Regulatory Agencies. A body bag was found to be leaking bodily fluids along with a container of animal remains which was also leaking fluids. Ive been violated, said Alena Holloman. Extra charges are assessed if a body is embalmed or a funeral director is involved. Colorado regulators shut Sunset Mesa down in February 2018, KMGH-TV reported. . 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. (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. Her revised online biography cited her high school degree and a love of veterinary medicine.. Its a profit business. He would not discuss the nature of those complaints or any action it may be taking. 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.. Further, the van was holding two other bodies that needed to be removed.. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. One ex-employee, Kari Escher, said she was especially troubled by the practices of Hesss mother, Shirley Koch, who works at the facility. With a population of about 20,000, Montrose is a community surrounded by the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. 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 parts without permission. Two months later, after hearing nothing from Hess, Schum went to Sunset Mesa to retrieve her friend's ashes. Paul Hawthorne, Getty Images. Her 69-year-old mother, Shirley Koch, also pleaded guilty to fraud and was sentenced to 15 years. You are looking at how to make money.. SENTINEL FILE PHOTO Sisters Layna and Janet Hutt hold photos of their father, Raymond Hutt, who died in 2016 at the age of 96. Seeing how this chapter is opening up again is incredible, its unbelievable. 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. The lawsuit estimates the three were making $40,000 a month from the sale of body parts. I didnt believe in depression until I lost my baby, Cavanagh said. Staci Kent arrived to one of those death scenes without a body bag, which spurred an argument with authorities, the indictment notes. 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.