Body of deceased woman, 30 human cremains found at house after ex-funeral home owner evicted

By Amy Beth Hanson And Colleen Slevin, The Associated Press on February 16, 2024.

DENVER (AP) – The body of a woman who died in 2022 and the cremated remains of about 30 people were found at a rental house in Denver after the eviction of a former funeral home owner, Denver police said Friday.

A warrant was issued for Miles Harford, 33, who owned Apollo Funeral and Cremation Service in Littleton, which has been closed since September 2022. The expected charges include abuse of a corpse, forgery of the death certificate and theft of the money paid for the cremation.

Police have been in contact with him, officials said.

The body and cremains were found on Feb. 6 by someone who was cleaning out the house after Harford was evicted, police said.

The body of a 63-year-old woman was found in a hearse on the property. Investigators contacted her family and learned they had been provided what they believed were the woman’s cremains, which have been turned over to the Office of the Medical Examiner.

The other cremains found on the property appear to have been professionally cremated, officials said. Investigators are checking labels on the cremains and state databases in an effort to return the cremains to their families. DNA testing cannot be used, officials said.

The case is not related to one in which nearly 200 decomposing bodies were found in a funeral home in Penrose, Colorado, last October. The owners of the Return to Nature Funeral Home – Jon and Carie Hallford, face hundreds of felony charges.

Colorado has some of the weakest rules in the nation with no routine inspections or qualification requirements for funeral home operators.