The body was identified by fingerprints as Victor Akubuo, 42, from Southern . Meme Eberspacher, Dunlaps niece, was at his bedside the night that Dunlap died. Emmanuel Macron shared his vision of a renewed partnership with Africa in which it stands equal with France, as he concluded a tour where he has sought to dispel France's image as an arrogant former colonial power whilst bidding for future influence. Earlier this month, authorities from both Lake and Eagle counties encountered a strong odor of decomposition when they searched the Leadville funeral home, reads. Authorities also uncovered multiple refrigerated bodies which were wrapped in sheets or blankets but did not have any tags or paperwork identifying them. Twenty-five of the brokers were for-profit corporations. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. 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. . . 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. Neither addressed the issue about the teeth. parents are now under investigation by the FBI. The indictment accuses Kent of allowing his wife to go out to death scenes as a deputy coroner, even though she took no oath and an appointment had not been filed with the county clerk, as required by law. "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. Instead, the media was interested in the dark history behind the town's funeral home, Sunset Mesa. When Reuters visited her facility in 2016, Hess said Donor Services represented just 15 percent or so of her total business. She was sold, embalmed and shipped out within just a few hours of her death, said Holloman. [wpforms id=436 title=true description=true]. The 20-year term was the maximum allowed under law. I'll never be OK.". 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. The Justice Department did not respond to Fox News' request for comment. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Her revised online biography cited her high school degree and a love of veterinary medicine.. Donor Services has circulated a brochure that reads: Be a hero. Its for the good of the world, and I like to help people, Hess said. One of Hesss donors was Rex Dunlap, a frugal Coloradan battling brain cancer. Thank you for thinking of me.. Records from the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies showthis was not the first time Kent has been in the crosshairs of state regulators. Few state laws provide any oversight. The legislation has support from the state's largest trade association for funeral homes, the Colorado Funeral Directors Association. Instead of paying the standard $695 cremation fee to . A woman in Colorado has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for illegally selling body parts. Its a community struggling to understand the stories and the accusations about what happened in the back room at Sunset Mesa. When asked if it contained her husbands cremains, she said, I dont know.. heres a recap of our months top stories, Carriage Services reports Services and Revenue drops in 2022. 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. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. The judge ordered that Hess and Koch be sent to prison immediately. Pam Boyd/pboyd@vaildaily.com. Shannon and Staci Kent did not respond to interview requests from The Denver Post. No one would pick up the phone. At Donor Services, her body parts business, Hess can generate a greater return on the dead, a different price list reviewed by Reuters showed. 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. 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. Investigators discovered 31 dead bodies, some of which were in advanced stages of decomposition. According to Reuters Sunset Mesa Funeral Home had seen their call volume increase from 59 in 2015 to 128 in 2017. The eye was never returned, said Eberspacher and Dunlaps friend, Ron Mabry. As funeral directors, while we dont do everything perfect, we should have the best interest of our client families at heart. 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. are acquisitions larger in general? 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. But selling body parts such as heads, arms and spines which is what Hess did for use in research or education is not regulated by federal law. 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. Hansons box included wires and what appear to be old batteries. 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. 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. Did you ever consent to have this family mutilate your husbands body? asked Denver7. Hess' mother, Shirley Koch, has also been indicted. Propel Funeral Partners makes acquisitions. Downard Funeral Home Under Investigation, ISU Involved There are many events that have unfolded over the past couple weeks involving Downard Funeral Home, some including Idaho State University (ISU). A funeral home in Crapaud, Prince Edward Island is under RCMP investigation for allegations of financial irregularities. DENVER -- To many it is simply the unthinkable. The Green Funeral. 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 . 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. 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. Body brokers like Donor Services are also known as non-transplant tissue banks. 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 most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. 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. This content was originally published here. The brochure, provided to Reuters by Hess during the 2016 interview, continued this way: Every year, organ, eye and tissue transplants provide hope to tens of thousands of people suffering from disease, injury, trauma or blindness. 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). 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. Staci Kent, however, wouldnt let them see the baby, Reh said. Prosecutors recommended a sentence for Hess of 12 to 15 years. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Denver attorneys Mike Berg and Dave Teselle now represent more than 50 families who claim Hess and her parents victimized them. (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. Updated: 8:07 PM MDT September 14, 2021. She said that one month she got about $40,000 from selling donated bodies. Just about any adult can run for coroner in Colorado. Megan Hess, the former operator of a Montrose funeral home convicted of selling body parts without family consent, was . Kent also operates funeral homes in Silverthorne, Idaho Springs, Fairplay and Buena Vista. 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 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. "It's concerning to the court that defendant Hess refuses to assume any responsibility for her conduct.". According to the Johnstown, N.Y. Police Department, Brian M. Barnett, 35, who owns the since-shuttered Ehle . 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. 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 article also tells about how Sunset Mesa Funeral Home handled some services free of charge. 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. The news agency had also sent written questions to Hess and her attorney about Kochs alleged handling of gold teeth. Shannon and Staci Kent, 45, of Leadville were charged on Friday with attempted tampering with a deceased human body. 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. "Our sweet mother, they dismembered her," Erin Smith said, selling her shoulders, knees and feet for profit. Hess is tentatively set to be sentenced in January. Subscribe today to see what all the buzz is about. It was kinda creepy., It is totally unregulated, said Burg. or redistributed. 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. Two funeral homes owned by Lake County Coroner Shannon Kent are under investigation after law enforcement earlier this month found an unrefrigerated body, an abandoned stillborn infant, bags of unl The body was identified as that of 42 . 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. . Sunset Mesa Funeral Directors of Montrose handled the funeral . 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. These illegitimate businesses are buying and selling body parts just like anything off the shelf at Walmart, added Teselle. As she mourned the loss of her son, Cavanagh was referred to the Kent Funeral Home in Gypsum to do the cremation. According to Jeffersonville Police Major Isaac Parker, the department began its investigation of the Lankford Funeral Home and Family Center in Jeffersonville on Friday. The couple got dressed up in matching outfits and brought a special camera. "No, I did not," Hancock responded. All they got was the urn and a death certificate no other paperwork. 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.. A human head and spine sold for $850, while a full pelvis all the way to the toes priced out at $2,850. Colorado Ordway Funeral Homes Eaton Family Funeral Home Eaton Family Funeral Home in Ordway 202 E 3rd St Ordway, CO 81063 (719) 267-4221 Click to show location on map Zoom About Eaton Family Funeral Home We understand that losing a loved one can be a very stressful time. "This is the most emotionally draining. 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. 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. Kent has not yet been arrested for the most recent incidents, which at the Leadville funeral home included authorities' discovery of an abandoned stillborn, according to the Oct. 13 summary suspension issued by Colorados Office of Funeral Home and Crematory Registration. 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. I told them it didnt make sense, Mabry said. Donating bodies, selling the parts: Frequently asked questions. 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. Funeral Director Daily take: I have a hard time fathoming what may have went on at this funeral home. She operated a funeral home, Sunset Mesa, and a body parts entity, Donor Services, from the same building in Montrose, Colorado. . Legal Statement. This is a way we can eliminate or alleviate the black market on body parts, Crowder added. By: Tony Kovaleski Posted at 6:00 PM, Oct 31, 2019 The Unaffiliated is our twice-weekly newsletter on Colorado politics and policy. On Oct. 13, the state shut down both the Gypsum operation and . A grand jury indictment said that from 2010 through 2018, Hess and Koch offered to cremate bodies and provide the remains to families at a cost of $1,000 or more, but many of the cremations never occurred. 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. Sam Tabachnik is a roving reporter for The Denver Post, focusing on stories outside metro Denver. 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. She has been told parts of her husbands body were sold on the world-wide market. I thought it was something that needs to be corrected," said state Senator Larry Crowder, one of the bills sponsors. The recent parade of early deaths has hit close to home. Instead of paying the standard $695 cremation fee to Colorado Cremation, Hesss former cremation marketing business, Dunlap paid Hess $495 to take his body. However, on Thursday, Colorado police arrested Shannon and Staci Kent after finding a decaying corpse in a funeral home they previously operated. 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. Finally Reh and her boyfriend went to the funeral home with the expectation that they would see their baby. 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. No one returned her voicemails. The Lake County Sheriffs Office confirmed an active criminal investigation is underway. Colorado is nicknamed the "Centennial State" because when it became the 38th state, the United States turned 100 on August 1, 1876. Colorado regulators shut down the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in 2018. ", Tina Shanon, whose mother was dismembered against her will, told the court, "I've worn many masks to cover the pain. 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. did not receive a contract for funeral services, and only received the cremains after several calls to Kent, the order states. Seeing how this chapter is opening up again is incredible, its unbelievable. Connie Hansons sons body parts were also allegedly sold. Burg and Teselles law firm is currently suing body brokers in both Colorado and Arizona. Copyright 2019 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. The owner of the funeral homes, Shannon Kent, is also Lake Countys coroner. Theyre united by the pain of believing they purchased cremation services for their loved ones, knowing they never agreed to let Hess dismember the bodies. It can't be fixed, said Hancock. In the late aughts, the town of Montrose, Colorado, made national headlines. 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. Buyers ranged from educators and scientists to individuals in the medical industry. E.W. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, 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. 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. did not receive a contract for funeral services, and only received the cremains after several calls to Kent, the order states. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes.

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