A Las Vegas funeral home has been shut down after authorities discovered 146 bodies that had not been cremated, some for more than ten months. The remains have been transferred to another facility for cremation, but families are now concerned they may have received the wrong ashes.
The Nevada State Board of Funeral and Cemetery Services revoked the licence of McDermott’s Funeral and Cremation Service after finding bodies stored in appalling conditions. Photographs showed fluids dripping between corpses, and at least one body was left in a cooler without a lid, its face exposed.
Relatives of the deceased have expressed distress at not being able to view their loved ones before cremation. Dorothy Duran, whose mother was among the remains, said: “Is it my mom? I know that it’s just her body … but that’s my mother. It breaks my heart that she got thrown away like garbage.” Another mourner, Keline Baez, questioned: “If you’re not tagging the bodies properly – whose ashes are you giving to these loved ones?”
The funeral home’s owner, Chris Grant, previously attributed delays to waiting for approval from Clark County Social Services to pay for treating unclaimed bodies. However, investigators said the conditions were among the worst they had seen. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has not opened a criminal investigation, and it remains unclear whether Grant will face charges.
