Widow who ‘had her husband’s ashes turned into jewelry is told police found his body in FREEZER’ at scandal-hit funeral home
A widow who had her husband’s ashes turned into jewelry was reportedly told by police that his body had been found in a freezer at a scandal-hit funeral home.
Police 35 bodies removed Legacy Independent Funeral Directors on Hessle Road in Hull following “care of the deceased”.
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The widow was reportedly told by Legacy that she had to do so identify the body of her late husband eight months after she thought he had been cremated.
Three generations of women in the family, his widow, daughter and granddaughter, all wear jewelry made from his so-called ‘ashes’.
But they are now ‘desperate’ to discover the ashes could be someone else’s.
Officers told the unidentified woman that her late husband’s body had been found in a freezer at East Yorkshire Funeral Directors after raiding the premises.
A family friend says: “They paid quite a bit then 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.
“Apparently the police told them he could only be frozen under the supervision of the coroner.”
The friend continued, “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!”
Cordons have been placed at the company’s offices on 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 investigation have been released on bail, police said.
Meanwhile, Billie-Jo Suffill, 33, lost her father Andy Suffill, 52, just days after her brother in July 2022.
The family used the company for… cremation but says she “never received” her father’s ashes.
Fearing she would be affected by the scandal, mother-of-three Billie-Jo said: ‘I never really saw my children. daddy’s body.
“I bet my dad wasn’t even in the coffin; it was an empty coffin.
“I kissed an empty coffin. When I think about it now, it’s disgusting.
‘I got ashes after my brother’s funeral. But now I don’t even know if it’s his ashes, and I never got it from my father.”
Earlier this week, a mourner told the Telegraph she had been informed by police that her stepfather may have been among the bodies recovered – despite the family being told a month ago that the ashes were his.
Humberside Police said a “quantity of what we suspect to be human ashes” was also removed from the Hessle Road site.
Police said a hotline set up for the public to report concerns has received more than 1,000 calls since Friday.
Some fear the allegations against the funeral home could affect families from 13 years ago.
A coroner and the family must be notified if a body needs to be kept frozen.
Humberside ACC McLoughlin encouraged anyone concerned about the care of their deceased relatives to come forward, telling a press conference on Tuesday: “The dedicated telephone line remains open and so far we have received more than 1,000 calls since Friday from concerned members of the public.”
“I would encourage anyone who has any concerns about the service they have received from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors and who has not yet contacted us to contact us on the dedicated helpline.”
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