Authorities reported that a former owner of a funeral parlor had been detained for allegedly storing the cremated remains of at least thirty persons and concealing the body of a lady for two years in the back of a vehicle. Miles Harford, 33, was arrested on Thursday night in response to the most recent allegations of wrongdoing by Colorado funeral service operators. The previous allegations included the discovery of around 200 decaying remains at a funeral parlor.
The shocking discoveries have brought attention to the state funeral home rules' laxity and forced legislators to attempt to tighten the legislation. During a court-ordered eviction at his house in early February, authorities discovered a macabre scene of urns hidden around the Harford property, from the crawl hole to the hearse where the woman's corpse lay beneath blankets, according to the AP.
The stockpiled cremains seem to be those of persons who passed away between 2012 and 2021, according to authorities, and Harford was the owner of Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services in the Littleton, Colorado, neighborhood. September 20, 2022, marked the closure of the funeral home.
Though further charges may be brought, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann has previously said that misuse of a body, forging of the death certificate, and theft of the money paid for the woman's cremation are among the probable offenses included on the warrant. At the time of the arrest warrant announcement last week, police said Harford was cooperating. However, by Thursday, they were unable to locate him and had offered a $2,000 reward for information that would lead to his capture.
According to an earlier statement from Denver Police Cmdr. Matt Clark, Harford told authorities that he owed money to a few local crematories, but none of them would cremate the woman's corpse, so he chose to keep it in the hearse. Her relatives sent over what they thought to be her ashes to the medical examiner's office, and they told detectives as much to Detectives. After 190 decomposing remains were found in a bug-infested facility owned by the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado, Harford was arrested.
Accusations that they provided phony ashes to the deceased's family led to the arrest of Return to Nature's married owners, who are now awaiting trial. A different funeral company in the Colorado city of Montrose was suspected of selling body parts and dispersing phony ashes, and its owners were sentenced to federal prisons for mail fraud last year.
The shocking discoveries have brought attention to the state funeral home rules' laxity and forced legislators to attempt to tighten the legislation. During a court-ordered eviction at his house in early February, authorities discovered a macabre scene of urns hidden around the Harford property, from the crawl hole to the hearse where the woman's corpse lay beneath blankets, according to the AP.
The stockpiled cremains seem to be those of persons who passed away between 2012 and 2021, according to authorities, and Harford was the owner of Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services in the Littleton, Colorado, neighborhood. September 20, 2022, marked the closure of the funeral home.
Though further charges may be brought, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann has previously said that misuse of a body, forging of the death certificate, and theft of the money paid for the woman's cremation are among the probable offenses included on the warrant. At the time of the arrest warrant announcement last week, police said Harford was cooperating. However, by Thursday, they were unable to locate him and had offered a $2,000 reward for information that would lead to his capture.
According to an earlier statement from Denver Police Cmdr. Matt Clark, Harford told authorities that he owed money to a few local crematories, but none of them would cremate the woman's corpse, so he chose to keep it in the hearse. Her relatives sent over what they thought to be her ashes to the medical examiner's office, and they told detectives as much to Detectives. After 190 decomposing remains were found in a bug-infested facility owned by the Return to Nature Funeral Home in Penrose, Colorado, Harford was arrested.
Accusations that they provided phony ashes to the deceased's family led to the arrest of Return to Nature's married owners, who are now awaiting trial. A different funeral company in the Colorado city of Montrose was suspected of selling body parts and dispersing phony ashes, and its owners were sentenced to federal prisons for mail fraud last year.
