A mother and daughter were indicted by a federal grand jury on allegations that they ran an illegal body part selling operation out of their Colorado funeral home.
Megan Hess, 43, and Shirley Koch, 66, were each charged with six counts of mail fraud and three counts each of illegal transportation of hazardous materials. Prosecutors allege that, shortly after opening Sunset Mesa Funeral Home in Montrose, the duo ran an eight-year scheme from 2010 to 2018.
After the funeral home opened in 2009, Hess began operating Sunset Mesa Funeral Foundation, a nonprofit body brokerage company that went by the name Donor Services and sold body parts out of the same building as the funeral home.
“In at least dozens of instances, Hess and Koch did not follow family wishes, and neither discussed nor obtained authorization for Donor Services to transfer decedents’ bodies or body parts to third parties,” a Justice Department press release read. “In the few instances where families agreed to donation, Hess and Koch sold the remains of those decedents beyond what was authorized by the family, which was often limited to small tissue samples, tumors, or portions of skin.”
In some instances, the two allegedly shipped bodies and body parts from individuals who had or died from infectious diseases, including Hepatitis B and C and HIV but told buyers the bodies were disease-free.
The two are also accused of giving grieving families what they thought were the cremated remains of their loved one, when such was not the case. Because they allegedly made hundreds of thousands of dollars selling the bodies and body parts, the funeral home was able to provide exceedingly low prices for “cremation” services compared to other local funeral homes.
“As a result, Hess was able to ensure a constant supply of bodies for her and Koch’s body broker services business,” prosecutors wrote in the indictment.
“The defendants are charged with committing a blatant fraud on many, many victims. This betrays a fundamental trust during one of the worst times in a person’s life — having to make arrangements for a deceased loved one,” said U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn. “It is hard to imagine the pain and worry of those who used Sunset Mesa and not knowing what happened to their loved one’s remains.”
If convicted, Hess and Koch face more than 100 years in prison.
