Colorado Funeral Home Owners Ordered to Return Bodies
190 Decomposing Cadavers Found in Colorado Funeral Home
Owners Accused of Mishandling Bodies, Fraud
A Colorado judge has ordered the owners of a funeral home to return the bodies of 190 people after they were found decomposing in the facility. The owners of the Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, Colorado, are accused of mishandling the bodies and defrauding families.
The Colorado Attorney General's office filed a lawsuit against the funeral home and its owners, Megan Hess and Shirley Koch, in September 2022. The lawsuit alleges that the funeral home failed to properly store and preserve the bodies, and that the owners lied to families about the condition of their loved ones' remains.
Investigators found 190 bodies in various stages of decomposition when they entered the funeral home in August 2022. Some of the bodies were found in cardboard boxes, while others were found in body bags that had been left open. The funeral home's refrigeration system was not working properly, and the bodies were exposed to extreme heat and humidity.
The owners of the funeral home have denied the allegations against them. They claim that they were overwhelmed by the number of bodies that they were handling and that they did not have the resources to properly care for them.
The judge ordered the owners of the funeral home to return the bodies to their families by October 14, 2022. The owners have also been ordered to pay a $1 million bond.
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