Melted Mementos & Prison Posers | 4M #216

Welcome to the two-hundred-and-sixteenth edition of Morticians’ Monday Morning Mashup, 4M #216, 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!

Slammer scammer

An inmate at a prison in Georgia is facing new charges for posing as a funeral director to scam a widow out of $1,200. The inmate called the widow from the prison, using the name of the actual funeral director handling the husband’s services, and demanded payment for “liability insurance” — adding that non-payment might delay the funeral. The widow sent the funds through Zelle. The inmate has been moved from the prison to the county jail where he’s now being held on a $11,000 bond.

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An 80-year mystery

The unclaimed cremated remains of more than 70,000 victims of the 1945 atomic bombing at Hiroshima line the walls of the city’s Atomic Bomb Memorial Mound. In the 80-plus years since the bombing, 812 of these remains have been identified through various means, although rarely from DNA, which is extremely difficult — if not impossible — to extract from cremated remains. Now authorities hope to add one more name to that list. The city has approved DNA testing of preserved hair found among remains thought to belong to a young girl who died in the bombing. If DNA is extracted, it will be compared to that of the girl’s surviving sister. In 2016, a new law made the Japanese government responsible for “recovering and identifying the remains of military personnel, with major efforts undertaken in Okinawa and on Iwoto island, formerly known as Iwojima.” 

Debt after death

Debt.com recently released the results of its annual Death and Debt Survey, and while it’s not great news for consumers, it does offer statistics to support the benefits of preplanning. The survey of 1,000 Americans found that:

• Half have not discussed how their debt or funeral expenses will be handled after they die;
• 4 in 10 couldn’t pay for a loved one’s funeral today without going into debt;
• 59% took on credit card debt to pay funeral expenses, while 38% paid with the proceeds of a personal loan; and
• Only 55% understand what happens to their debt after they die.

Families file against Davis Mortuary

A civil lawsuit was filed last week on behalf of three families whose loved ones’ remains were mishandled by former Pueblo, Colorado coroner Brian Cotter and his brother Chris, co-owners of Davis Mortuary. In addition to the business entity and its owners, the lawsuit also names the Pueblo Masonic Temple Association, which owns the building the Cotters rented for their mortuary. More members of the families of the 24 deceased individuals found at Davis Mortuary in August may join the lawsuit, but many are still awaiting confirmation of identities of the remains.

Niche thieves nailed

A Canadian couple has been charged with committing more than 300 thefts of various items from niches in eight Toronto-area cemeteries and mausoleums. Authorities have recovered 600 items, including jewelry, keepsakes, and coins, which the male and female suspects accessed by removing the protective glass fronts of the niches. They believe more stolen items have already been sold or melted for resale. As of now, charges “encompass more than 25 counts each, including indignity to a dead body, theft under $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime and possession of break-in instruments.”