I’m terrified I kissed an empty casket as I laid my father to rest after 34 bodies were REMOVED from a ‘fraudulent’ funeral home

A heartbroken daughter fears she “kissed an empty coffin” meant to contain her father – as a “fraudulent” funeral home is accused of giving families the wrong ashes.

Police have removed 35 bodies from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors on Hessle Road in Hull after “concerns over the care of the deceased”.

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Billie-Jo Suffill, 33, lost her father Andy Suffill, 52, just days after her brother in July 2022 – and used the company for the cremation, but says she ‘never received’ her father’s ashes.

She says she “never received” her father’s ashes and is now one of dozens potentially affected by the fraudulent company.

Mum-of-three Billie-Jo told the BBC: “It’s not human, it’s not normal.

“It’s not something you hear about, not in Hull, not in our little town, it’s crazy.”

Humberside Police said a “quantity of what we suspect to be human ashes” was also removed from Legacy Funeral Directors in Hull.

Cordons have been placed at the company’s branches in Hessle Road and Anlaby Road in Hull, and in Beverley.

A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman arrested in connection with the funeral directors investigation have been released on bail, Humberside Police said.

Relatives panicked when they discovered that police had visited a funeral home where they had cremated their loved ones.

Hundreds of grieving relatives fear they have been given the wrong ashes after police searched three properties in East Yorkshire.

Many fear the allegations against Legacy Funeral Directors of Hessle Road, Hull, could affect families from 13 years ago.

A coroner and the family must be notified if a body needs to be kept frozen.

A family friend, from Beverley, East Yorkshire, said they were shocked when they were told by police on Saturday that the body of their loved one, who died in July last year, was still in the freezer at Legacy Funeral Directors.

They added: “After the cremation they returned his ashes.

“The daughter slept next to their bed and the family also took them to the pub for a memorial service.

“They then paid a lot of money to have the ashes turned into crystal jewelry that his widow, daughter and granddaughter could wear in his memory.

“But now they have found out that he was not cremated and has been in the freezer all this time.

“The widow is desperate. The family thought they had his remains and are now asking, “If it’s not him, who is it?”

“They are now grieving again, they have lost the closure that a funeral gives you.

“His widow has now been told by the police that she has to identify the body of her late husband – imagine that!”