An Old Cold Case & Bowie’s Bow-Out | 4M #18

ENJOY Funeral Industry News Lighter Side January 16, 2022
Bowie Style Cremation 4M 18

An Old Cold Case & Bowie’s Bow-Out | 4M #18

Welcome to the eighteenth edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, where we’ll serve up bite-sized, easily-digestible nuggets of the deathcare news you need to crush conversations in the week ahead. Bon appetit!

Did David Bowie Ch-Ch-Ch-Change the Way People Do Cremation?

Deathcare professionals have offered direct cremation for years, but can you pinpoint when it became “popular?” One UK publication believes that “direct cremations first came to attention in January 2016 when David Bowie was privately cremated with no friends or family present.” Well, ok. They call it “David Bowie-style cremation.” There’s absolutely no doubt that Bowie was a legend, but can one really attribute the 100% increase in direct cremations from 2020 to 2021 to Bowie’s 2016 disposition? Let’s watch and see if “Desmond Tutu-style” alkaline hydrolysis cremations rise in four years.

3,200-Year-Old Murder Cold Case Finally Closed

We have bad news for all the OG amateur investigators who’ve been chasing “murdered pharaoh” theories since 1922: King Tut was NOT murdered. One hundred years ago, archeologists discovered the tomb — and within it, the mummified remains — of King Tutankhamun, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. In 1968, X-rays revealed two bone fragments inside the mummy’s skull, which sparked rumors that the king was brutally murdered. Recently, though, CT scans and further analysis of the 1968 X-rays put an end to those theories, with experts concluding the pharaoh most likely died of natural causes, not foul play. 

Another Twist in the Tale of Shawnte Hardin

Late last year we shared the story of Shawnte Hardin, the Ohio man who was indicted on charges of abuse of a corpse and acting as a funeral director without a license. Last week investigators discovered the cremains of 89 people inside the now-abandoned Akron church where Hardin once served as pastor prior to his arrest. Hardin’s attorneys say the church was a “safe place” to store the “unclaimed” cremains while the funeral director tried to locate family members. 

FAKE NEWS!!!!!

Fake news, misinformation, opposing viewpoints, call it whatever you want- it’s everywhere! In fact, we’ve even heard people say, “live streaming funeral services is so difficult!”

Well well well, Get some mustard and a little bit of bread, cause that’s bologna!

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