Police: Cremated Remains Found in Houston-Area Abandoned Funeral Home

Stafford, Texas

Police have learned the cremated remains of 15 people were left abandoned at a now-vacant funeral home.
Those remains, 4 of whom belong to children, were found in the 1250 block of FM 2234 on March 1, according to a Stafford Police Department statement.

Property management personnel helped police move the remains to their department for processing.
Detectives are requesting assistance to locate the family members of the deceased:

— Rosie L. Johnson
— Bobby J. Jones
— Raynor Wyatt (child)
— Ayana Etuknwa
— Roger Dale Norris
— Rabon Smith Sr.
— Juanita H. Williams

Family members, or anyone with information, are asked to contact Detective Hardin at 281-208-6991 or at his email address: jhardin@staffordpd.com .

Source

Houston Texas Cemetery Admits To Flubbed Grave Plots

Houston, Texas

Several children’s graves may be mismarked and their families may not even know about it. The problem is at the Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery, owned by Service Corporation International (SCI Hispana), in southeast Houston.

This all came to light because of one Houston-area family. They started asking probing questions about their own loved ones gravesite. They’d been visiting it for years. They planned to place a headstone on the grave.

Their plans suddenly changed when they say a cemetery employee told them they’ve been visiting the wrong grave all this time. Farrell was furious.

“Where I was sitting was someone else’s little girl,” LeAnne Farrell said.

When we first asked general manager John Krasnick questions, he wasn’t eager to answer them.

Farrell says she was told her son’s grave is marked correctly but that several other children’s graves may not be.

Source

From Starbucks to pedicures, Texas funeral homes are taking a creative approach for profits.

Owners of a funeral home in the Dallas suburb of McKinney are hoping to project a more progressive image and replace the overall decline in funeral spending nationwide. They now sell Starbucks coffee.

Visitors to the mortuary making arrangements for loved ones can now have a macchiato instead of the ordinary cup of joe.

Turrentine Morrow Jackson Funeral Home, a family-owned business that has been operating in McKinney since 1945, opened a coffee shop in February as part of a building upgrade.

According to representatives of the firm, “We’ve had customers ask us where the nearest Starbucks was.” We finally felt it would be OK to extend this type of service to our customers.” It fits our philosophy of having everything you need at one location.”

A little farther down south, in the Houston area, another funeral director is making plans to offer pedicure services.

As consumers continue to spend-down and the popularity of cremation escalates, funeral homes have been facing revenue shortages. Many are jumping on the social media bandwagon, while adding novelty items such as cremation jewelry, pet urns, and other trinkets. Time will tell if consumers are ready for coffee and pedicures down at their local funeral home, or if they will view these services to be “out of place” next to the dead.

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Houston Funeral Home Swindles Veteran’s Family

Houston, Texas

A funeral provider in Houston sold a family a burial vault even though the veteran’s cemetery furnished a concrete grave liner at no charge. The sale was closed because the salesman informed the family that it was a legal requirement for them to have a vault in the State of Texas even though the grave liner was furnished at no charge by the VA.

Ken Lambert noticed the additional charges during an invoice review. When the family was asked, they stated what the salesman had told them. They did not think it was right but they went along with it. The funeral home owner was contacted but would not cooperate until Ken stated that the family was prepared to sign affidavits to the Funeral Service Commission and the Federal Trade Commission stating that the salesman sold them the vault as a “legal requirement”, which was a specific violation of the law. The owner then refunded the $995 for the vault even though the veteran was buried with the merchandise.

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Caution When Choosing Cremation or Funeral Provider Who Uses Third-Party Services

It has become common, especially among cremation providers, to hire outside service providers. This is especially true with firms that do not own their own crematory. Often, these firms will hire outside individuals to transport the bodies to and from the outside crematory. What is most disturbing, is that many of these providers do not inform families that they use outside services. While there are some quality outside providers, there are also those that are questionable. 

Transport vehicle used in Houston, Texas

Another transport van used in Houston, Texas

It is imperative for consumers to ask about third-party providers.  What type of vehicles are your loved ones being transported in?

Swedish Company Promessa Offers to Freeze and Explode Your Corpse

A Swedish company has developed a way to deal with human remains that removes the most pollutant aspects of burial by sending them the way of the Terminator.

Swedish Ecological Burial company Promessa wants to freeze human bodies and shatter them into millions of pieces using mechanical vibrations.

The body is frozen to around -18C and submerged into liquid nitrogen, allowing the body to become brittle.

Once the body is sufficiently brittle, it is shocked with mechanical vibrations, shattering it into a powder.

The process doesn’t end there, either. Weight is still an issue.

Once in powder form, the remains still weigh about as much as a human body, but Promessa has developed a solution for that too.

The powder is placed in a vacuum chamber which sets about removing water from the remains, shedding about 70% of the body’s mass.

Water boils instantly in a vacuum so the water is literally steamed from the body.

All that remains after this process are organic materials, metal parts, (mostly life-saving technological devices implanted in the body such as pacemakers – which are removed) and mercury.

The company recommends placing the remains in a cornstarch coffin which should be buried in a plot that allows the remains to break down into compost within a year-and-a-half. Hardwood coffins, additives and large cemetery plots are a no no.

Source

Widow Suing Houston-Based Funeral Corporation, SCI, for $16M for Gross Misconduct

Nashville, Tennessee

Conduct of national company’s local workers called ‘outrageous, grossly negligent’.

A Nashville woman is seeking $16 million in damages for alleged “outrageous, grossly negligent, indecent, reckless” conduct by a death care services provider.

Sharon McNabb filed suit against SCI Tennessee Funeral Services (Houston-based Service Corporation International) (NYSE:SCI) in Davidson County Circuit Court this week, claiming the company’s local workers botched burial arrangements for her deceased husband and “talked her into” cremating his body.

According to the complaint, Andrew Raymond McNabb had purchased a plot at Woodlawn Memorial Park from Woodlawn Funeral Home in 1989. After his death on Dec. 17, Sharon arranged for a Dec. 20 viewing and Dec. 21 service at Eastland Funeral Home before the interment at Woodlawn Memorial Park.

The arrangements were proceeding according to plan until SCI workers notified the McNabb family — during the funeral service — that they in fact had no burial plot at Woodlawn and said the “best thing” to do was cremate the body. According to the complaint, McNabb consented, though she was “completely distraught” and “heavily sedated” at the time.

Then, more than a week after the cremation, McNabb received a notice from the Tennessee National Guard War Records Section that her husband was a veteran and was eligible for burial at the VA Cemetery — notice that SCI had received the day before the funeral.

“Instead of telling her that he could be buried in a VA Cemetery, SCI staff talked her into letting them cremate him for a fee, when at the time it should have been obvious that she was suffering from great emotional distress,” the complaint reads. “This conduct was outrageous, grossly negligent, indecent, reckless, and willful and the kind that is not tolerated by civilized society.”

Source

California Lawmaker Tries Again to Legalize Liquified Corpses After Safety Concerns Raised

When a loved one dies, families typically are left with two options: burial or cremation.

A California lawmaker wants to give families a third option, which is being pitched as a “green alternative” to traditional cremation — chemically dissolve the body, keep the powdery residue and pour the liquefied remains down the drain.

But the procedure, too graphic to describe, has had some trouble getting off the ground. Assemblyman Jeff Miller had to shelve his proposal last year after a visiting scientist pointed out that the process might not be as safe as advertised.

Source

Houston Area Funeral Home Scam Adds to Grieving Mother’s Tragedy

Houston, Texas

Her 11-year old son was shot and killed. If you think things couldn’t get any worse, you’re wrong.

The grieving mother, now, isn’t sure where her deceased son’s body is.

“A person’s worse nightmare” Fort Bend County Deputy District Attorney Scott Carpenter said.

Carpenter said the mother turned to Rylan C. Scott Funeral Home in Stafford after her son was shot and killed. In addition to funeral services for her son, the mother said she bought several burial plots.

“She thought it would be nice to, when she ultimately dies, to be buried close to her son. So she arranged with Mr. Scott to purchase three funeral plots adjoining her son’s,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter said the mother in mourning paid $2,100: $700 for each plot.

According to Carpenter, 29-year-old Rylan Charles Scott told the mother he was part owner of a cemetery in Stafford. In fact, Craven Cemetery is a place where Fort Bend County buries the poor for absolutely free of charge.

“Mr. Scott has been indicted for selling funeral plots here in Fort Bend County that he did not own,” Carpenter said.

The grieving mother said when she visited the plots; the ground had not been disturbed. She said Scott then told her the location of the plots had changed and her son was buried in a different spot in the cemetery in an unmarked grave.

Rylan Charles Scott has been indicted on two felony counts including theft and tampering with a government document. The state of Texas slapped the Rylan C. Scott Funeral Home with seven different state violations from 2007 to last year after a number of complaints.

The funeral home has now changed ownership, according to the state. The Texas Funeral Service Commission oversees Texas funeral establishments.

Anyone can make an open records request with the agency to find out if the funeral home they are planning to do business with has complaints against it. That is one step that could have avoided a lot of heartache for this grieving mother.

Source

Another Visit To Cremation FAQs

In light of recent mail and some of the headlines surrounding scandals involving cremation providers and cremation “societies,” I think it might be a wise choice to re-post some cremation FAQs. In choosing a provider, it is always in your best interest to ask tough questions.

I have talked about this before, but I am asked quite often about cremation societies. As someone recently asked, “what are they and is there a benefit from using one?” Well, I would never say to not use one, as I am not personally familiar with all of them. However, I know of a few that I would absolutely advise you to avoid at all costs.

First, here is what they are. An individual, maybe licensed, maybe not, decides to open up a storefront business offering cremation. As part of a marketing campaign, they decide it might sound unique to call their business a cremation society. While they offer cremation services, they do not actually own their own crematory (or retort) where the actual cremation takes place. They often accept bids from outside crematories and pick the lowest bidder. A few locations like this hire an independent person, someone with a van, to make the removals (pick up your loved one) from the place of death.  This person will act as if they are an actual employee of the cremation society. Your loved one may or may not actually ever be taken to the storefront business.

Whenever you make arrangements at the storefront, the business representative will probably not tell you that they do not own their own crematory. I would go so far and say that you will never know that the storefront representative will never see your loved one. I have heard of one independent contractor who, after making the removal, will transport the body more than 100 miles to a third-party crematory. The body will be stored there, until cremation documentation arrives.

Actual Van Used By A Cremation "Society" in Texas

Another Van Used By A Cremation Society in Texas

So, should you use a cremation society? Well, that is a decision that only you can make. However, as I always point out, education is very important. Ask questions, especially about the use of third-party contractors and crematories. You should always ask.

• Is the owner of the facility a licensed funeral director?

• Do they own their own crematory?

• What are their guidelines for chain-of-custody of the body?

• Where will your loved one be taken?

• Does the off-site location offer refrigeration?

• Has the storefront owner actually visited the outside crematory?

• How can they be certain the correct cremated remains are returned?