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Koch told the judge she was sorry and took responsibility for her actions. The judge ordered that Hess and Koch be sent to prison immediately. Now its possible its not my baby in the urn, Reh said. [wpforms id=436 title=true description=true]. 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. Before referring questions to a lawyer, Hess spoke extensively with Reuters about her body broker company. Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors of Montrose handled the funeral . In cases like Schum's, where a family did agree to donate a body part, Hess sold more than she had permission to. Hoping to get answers, Denver7 visited Hess home in Montrose. A body bag was found to be leaking bodily fluids along with a container of animal remains which was also leaking fluids. When Reuters visited her facility in 2016, Hess said Donor Services represented just 15 percent or so of her total business. Such multipurpose operations raise ethical concerns, several funeral industry veterans said. The Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors and Donor Services building in Montrose, Colorado, U.S., December 16, 2017. 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. Hess continues running a dual operation. "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. Body brokers sometimes market their services using language that could mislead prospective donors into believing the broker handles organ donations. You are looking at how to make money.. 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. Prior to the raid, the cost of purchasing an arm and shoulder was $600. When asked if it contained her husbands cremains, she said, I dont know.. In an interview in 2016, she described Donor Services as a small, family business. The Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors and Donor Services building in Montrose, Colorado, U.S., December 16, 2017. "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 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. The home, located at 8215 W. Summerdale Ave., was sold for just shy of $400,000 in May 2021. But days went by and she couldnt reach anyone. 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. 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. Thank you for thinking of me.. High Country News reports that, duringthe initial investigation, the FBI tested 128 samples of remains tied to Sunset Mesa. 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 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. This whole situation, oh, I thought it was part of my past.. A change of plea hearing for Koch is scheduled for July 12. More Reuters investigations and long-form narratives, Got a confidential news tip? The startling discovery led to a further investigation of oversight in the funeral industry. The states Department of Regulatory Agencies said it has nine open complaints about Sunset Mesa higher than average for funeral homes in the state, said spokesman Lee Rasizer. Records from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies showthis was not the first time Kent has been in the crosshairs of state regulators. Just about any adult can run for coroner in Colorado. A state investigation by the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance now focuses on a Memphis funeral home that's also the focus of a Netflix reality show. After reading the states suspension order this week, two women told The Denver Post that the circumstances surrounding E.W. sound eerily familiar. 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. 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 . The Justice Department did not respond to Fox News' request for comment. Email address: Colorado Funeral Home / Body Broker Continues Under Investigation, Acquisitions, buy-outs, creative ideas. By submitting your email to receive this newsletter, you agree to our. They both plan to file complaints with the Department of Regulatory Affairs. 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 . Body brokers like Donor Services are also known as non-transplant tissue banks. This comes after a dozen . The remains Hess returned to families were also not those of their loved ones. Investigation into the allegations are ongoing with the Texas Funeral Services . 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. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. 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. NBC10 . At her funeral home, Hess charged families up to $1,000 for cremations that never occurred, prosecutors said, and she offered others free cremations in exchange for a body donation. Hess' mother, Shirley Koch, has also been indicted. Finally Reh and her boyfriend went to the funeral home with the expectation that they would see their baby. Most brokers who sell body parts offer to cremate part of the donors body for free. 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. The funeral home's owners, Megan Hess, 43, and her mother . . At the focal point of the FBI probe: funeral director Megan Hess, who did not return Fox News request for a comment. On March 17, the unsealed indictment revealed that this donor services business would harvest the human remains and then sell them, illegally and without the families' knowledge. However, on Thursday, Colorado police arrested Shannon and Staci Kent after finding a decaying corpse in a funeral home they previously operated. Her revised online biography cited her high school degree and a love of veterinary medicine.. It is a business and it is a profit business, added Burg. Why Donor Services was unable to trace Dunlaps head remains unclear. Thats when E.W. No such degree exists in the United States for morticians, veteran funeral directors say. Bailey-Kent Funeral Home, pictured at left, is one of two funeral homes owned by Shannon Kent now under criminal investigation. 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. 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. I didnt believe in depression until I lost my baby, Cavanagh said. What You Need To Know. The attorney, Carol Viner, asked Reuters to refrain from contacting Hess employees for any reason.. Reuters Investigates offers several ways to securely contact our reporters. The Daily Sentinel Megan Hess Colorado Funeral Homes. Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. 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. Donating bodies, selling the parts: Frequently asked questions. Catch up on the days top five stories every weekday afternoon. It was kinda creepy., It is totally unregulated, said Burg. Colorado regulators shut down the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in 2018. Thank you, she said before ending the call. On July 2, Jeffersonville Police officials announced dozens of bodies were found decomposing inside a funeral home in the Southern Indiana city, just across the river from Louisville. I'll never be OK.". 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. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Its not something that can be fixed., Hancock was notified by the FBI that her husbands body parts had been sold without her consent. That means almost anyone, regardless of expertise, can dissect and sell human remains. 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. 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. 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. felt they were too heavy to be those of a stillborn child, and submitted them for analysis. I said I dont want to hear anymore.. With a population of about 20,000, Montrose is a community surrounded by the beauty of the Rocky Mountains. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Megan Hess, a former Colorado funeral home director, chopped up over 500 . The price list is from an Arizona company shut down after an FBI raid five years ago. Hess, however, charged families to donate their bodies $195, plus $300 more if relatives want cremated remains returned. Funeral Director Daily take: I have a hard time fathoming what may have went on at this funeral home. One ex-employee, Kari Escher, said she was especially troubled by the practices of Hesss mother, Shirley Koch, who works at the facility. heres a recap of our months top stories, Carriage Services reports Services and Revenue drops in 2022. There, authorities also found dried bodily fluid on surgical equipment, the metal preparation table, and the floor. 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.

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