A former funeral home owner, who has financial problems, is accused of keeping a woman's body in a hearse for two years at a home where the cremated remains of at least 30 other people were discovered, according to police.
Officers in an American state Colorado They issued an arrest warrant for 33-year-old Myles Harford after the grisly discovery at a property in the Denver suburb of Littleton earlier this month.
Police said Harford had “financial problems” with the funeral business and was sometimes unable to complete cremations to provide the remains to their families.
Matt Clark, commander of Denver Police's Major Crimes Division, said officers believe that on occasion, Harford may have given family members another person's ashes instead of their loved one's.
Denver Police Department Major Crimes Commander Matt Clark speaks at a news conference. Photo: AP
Mr Clark said makeshift urns – plastic boxes the size of a shoe box – were also found after the property Harford rented was ordered to be vacated by court order.
Other tractors were found in a moving truck parked outside and in a hearse where a woman's body was found covered in blankets.
Mr Harford, who was in contact with officers remotely and is said to be cooperating with the investigation, said the woman died in August 2022.
According to police, he said that the burnt remains recovered from the house appeared to be related to individuals who died between 2012 and 2021.
Photo: AP
Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Harford on Friday, and police are said to be “working to facilitate his arrest.”
He is expected to be charged with abuse of a corpse, falsifying a death certificate and theft of funds paid for cremation, although other charges could be added, according to Denver District Attorney Beth McCann.
Harford did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment from The Associated Press.
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His company, Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services, was licensed from March 2012 through May 2022.
The discovery is the latest in a series of shocking cases involving funeral home operators in Colorado, which has some of the weakest oversight of the funeral industry in the United States.
The state does not have routine inspections of funeral homes or qualification requirements for operators.
A couple is awaiting trial in Colorado Springs after being arrested last year on charges of abandonment
Nearly 200 bodies were buried over several years inside an insect-infested facility and given fake ashes to family members.
