CARLINVILLE, Ill. (WAND) - The Sangamon County Coroner and the Sangamon County Sheriff have opened an investigation into the practices of Heinz Funeral Home/Family Care Cremations in Carlinville.
Coroner Jim Allmon said, "There have been numerous incidents regarding the identification and treatment of human remains by the above-mentioned funeral home."
A press conference was held Friday at 2:30 p.m. to share more information.
On Monday, September 25, Allmon's office was contacted by a local hospital about a body that had been in its morgue for more than a month.
Allmon said the family of the deceased woman had chosen Heinz Funeral Home shortly after their mother's death for assistance. The family said they had already been provided with what they thought were the cremated remains of their mother. Allmon had to tell the family those remains were not those of their mother and that her body was still at the hospital morgue.
After meeting with the family, Allmon said the remains they possessed were those of another Sangamon County resident.
"Our investigation has discovered numerous incidents similar to this that involve Heinz Funeral Home/Family Care Cremations telling the descendants' family that their loved one had been cremated, that they had then been provided with remains, when in actuality, a cremation never even took place," Allmon said.
Thursday, the Sangamon County Sheriff's Department, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulations, the Carbondale Police Department, the Macoupin County Coroner, and Allmon met at Heinz Funeral Home.
There, Allmon said they discovered the remains of three people that were not in a refrigerated setting and in an advanced state of decomposition. The bodies were not able to be identified at that time.
Allmon's office took possession of all three bodies and took them to Sangamon County for scientific identification.
Numerous families have been given the wrong remains, Allmon said.
In at least one situation, a body in the care of the funeral home was cremated under a different name.
Cremated remains come with a medallion that's attached to the top of the remains. That medallion usually has a pin on the top that coincides with the person who was cremated. "As long as the identification of the individual was not switched, prior to the cremation, those medallions should lead us to the right person," Allmon said on properly identifying the cremated remains.
"We're not sure where this ends yet," Allmon said when asked how many families could be impacted.
Allmon urges families who have questions about any past dealings they've had with Heinz Funeral Home to call the coroner's office for help.
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