On Friday, Colorado officials reported that a financially troubled former funeral home owner stored a deceased woman’s body in a hearse for two years at a Littleton residence.
According to AP, a 63-year-old woman’s remains were found during a court-ordered eviction of a Littleton property in the 2500 block of South Quitman Street, rented by Miles Harford, 33. The woman reportedly died from natural causes.
Harford previously owned the Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services in Littleton, police said. The funeral home had reportedly been closed since September 2022.
An additional (at least) 30 sets of cremated remains were also found at the residence, according to the Denver Medical Examiner’s Office, underscoring lax oversight of Colorado’s funeral industry.
“Mr. Harford appears to have experienced financial trouble in his business. At times he was not able to complete cremations to provide remains to families for services,” Denver Police Commander Matt Clark said Friday.
The New York Times reports that the police department and investigators with the Medical Examiner’s Office located the woman’s body concealed under a blanket in a non-functioning hearse in the backyard. Police stated that the woman had likely been there since her death.
The discovery posed an additional challenge for the woman’s family, given that they had previously received what they believed to be her cremated remains.
“They believed that they were processing their grief with the remains that they had, and had had services with that,” Clark added.
Officials said multiple crematories ceased their collaboration with Harford due to his outstanding financial debts. The victim’s body was subsequently left in the hearse when Harford couldn’t afford the cremation.
“He does acknowledge that he could not find a crematory to process the woman’s body, and then he felt that at that point, he just stored it in that hearse and then provided remains to the family so they could have their services,” Commander Clark said.
Meanwhile, investigators are actively trying to identify and return the 30 remains to their respective families. They are presumed to be associated with people who passed away between 2012 and 2021.
Harford hasn’t been arrested but Clark said arrest warrants have been issued. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Miles Harford/LinkedIn]
