Cremations halted after families speak
By HOLBROOK MOHR, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 1 minute ago
Families that took their late loved ones to a crematorium now suspected of mishandling human remains crowded a public meeting Thursday, by turns scolding and supporting the facility's owner.
Sharon Ward of Jackson held a small white box and fought back tears as she expressed her concerns about Seepe Funeral Home and Crematorium to the state Board of Funeral Service.
"This is all I have left of my husband. This is it. This was sent to me empty," she said of the box. "So when I found out it was empty, it was sent back. But now it has somebody's remains in here. I don't know who they belong to."
The home was later ordered to stop cremating bodies, at least until a hearing is held next week, at the request of the state Board of Funeral Service.
Owner Mark Seepe has been accused of dumping partially cremated remains in a trash bin outside the business and giving the wrong remains to relatives of the dead.
The investigation was launched after Lori Wilkinson, a former employee, came forward with pictures that appear to show the bones of several people mixed in a 55-gallon drum.
She told authorities she was horrified to see Seepe shoveling bones into a wheelbarrow when the crematory was undergoing repairs, then dumping the load in a barrel for disposal.
Some other former employees later made similar claims. The allegations have outraged people who used the facility, and dozens of them crowded into the funeral board's meeting Thursday.
Joseph Adams said that his father's last wish was to be put in a gallon Mason jar and that Seepe told him it would be taken care of.
"When we got there, he brought my dad out in a one-gallon olive jar with the label still on it," Adams said. "Not only was that disrespectful to me, it was disrespectful to my father."
Others at the meeting defended Seepe, including Lynda Lea Lollar, who said she has worked for him in the past and used his services.
"I don't think for one moment that is not my brother in that urn," she said.
Said Seepe defender Bob Jackson: "I've known the guy for a long time and I think a bunch of this stuff is a bunch of bull."
Linda Van Every Patterson scolded the board, saying it should have investigated more thoroughly in November when former crematorium employee Josh Hatten told family members they had been given ashes before their relative had even been cremated.
Patterson said the board had told her Hatten was simply a "disgruntled employee."
The family is suing Seepe for $5 million.
Later Thursday, Hinds County Chancellor William Singletary prohibited the facility from "destroying or otherwise disposing of cremains" until the matter is investigated. A hearing is scheduled for Monday.
Attorney General Jim Hood, who had asked for the injunction at the funeral board's request, said that he has not been able to confirm the allegations but that a state anthropologist did find human bone fragments in a trash bin.
Seepe has not responded to messages left by The Associated Press.
Ok, actually I'll start a new thread for it.