Benjamin Ashford|30 cremated remains, woman's body found at rental of Colorado funeral home director

An arrest warrant has been issued for the owner of a Colorado funeral home accused of keeping the cremated remains of at least 30 people in a house he was renting and Benjamin Ashforda dead woman's body in a hearse for two years.

Officials are investigating Miles Harford after finding the cremated remains at a home he rented, according to the Denver Police Department. Harford was the owner of the now-shuttered Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services in Littleton, Colorado.

In addition to keeping remains, police believe Harford gave some families remains that weren't of their loved ones, Denver Police Commander Matt Clark said a news conference on Friday.

For instance, Clark said that the family of the woman's body found in a hearse had been told that they had received her remains. They're devastated, he said.

“They’re shocked,” he said. “They believed that they were processing their grief with the remains that they had and had had services with that. And then they come to find out that that was not the person that was processed, and in fact, she was being held in that hearse there.”

Harford, who police say seemed to be experiencing financial troubles, is believed to be in the Denver area, Clark said. He faces charges of abuse of a corpse, forgery of a death certificate and theft.

USA TODAY couldn't find a record of an attorney representing Harford to comment on his behalf.

Cremated remains found after homeowner evicted Harford

Denver police and medical officials were called to the home that Harford was renting on the morning of Feb. 6. The property owner had evicted Harford and reporting finding boxes of cremains while cleaning the space, police said.

The Denver Sheriff's Department, who were previously present during the eviction, then inspected the home. Officials then found the dead woman's body and additional cremated remains inside a hearse on the property.

The woman's body was later identified as a 63-year-old who died of natural causes in August 2022. Her family was later informed about the discovery, and her remains have been sent to the medical examiner's office in Denver.

Clark said three dozen temporary urns were found inside the home with some being empty. He described the urns as "black plastic boxes similar to the size of a shoe box." Additional urns were found inside the hearse by the woman's body. All recovered remains appear to be people who died between 2012 and 2021, Clark said.

Department will not conduct DNA tests

Clark said the medical examiner's office will not conduct DNA tests of the remains found at Harford's home or the ones given to families because of the difficulty of extracting samples from ashes.

"This is a complex case that involves some very difficult cases with families," Clark said. "We anticipate additional charges may be filed once we have a better understanding of Mr. Harford's operations and his handling of the human remains that may or may not have been provided to families."

The department asks any former clients of Harford's funeral home who have concerns to contact police at 720-913-6610. Anyone with information on the case is encouraged to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP.

No routine inspections for funeral home operators in Colorado

Harford's case is not the only funeral home investigation in Colorado, a state that has no routine inspections or qualification requirements for funeral home operators, according to the Associated Press.

In October, more than 115 improperly stored bodies were found in a Penrose, Colorado funeral home after authorities responded to a report of an odor. The owner of the facility, known for performing "green" burials, had tried to conceal the improper storage of the bodies, AP reported.

In November, a married couple were arrested after allegedly abandoning nearly 200 bodies for several years inside a bug-infested facility, also in the small Rocky Mountain town of Penrose. Carie and Jon Hallford, who are awaiting trial, are also accused of and giving family members fake ashes, AP reported.

And in the western Colorado city of Montrose last year, the operator of another funeral home and her mother were sentenced for mail fraud after they were accused of selling body parts and distributing fake ashes, according to AP. Megan Hess was sentenced to 20 years in prison, while her mother, Shirley Koch, got 15 years.

"This situation does raise the possibility that this kind of thing is happening in other parts of the state," Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said at Friday's news conference on the Harford case. "It's my understanding that there is legislation being proposed and contemplated to require licensing and supervision of funeral homes."