Woman’s body hidden in hearse, dozens of cremains found during Denver home eviction
File image of the snow covering Longs Peak and the Rocky Mountains behind downtown Denver and a surrounding neighborhood. Getty Images
Denver police found a corpse in a hearse and dozens of cremains hidden throughout a residential rental property during an eviction earlier this month.
The 33-year-old tenant, who formerly operated a funeral home, is now wanted on several charges.
Eviction discoveries
Major Crimes Division Commander Matt Clark said in a press conference on Feb. 16 that the homeowner discovered several urn boxes in the crawlspace on Feb. 6 that contained cremated human remains, or cremains.
Authorities found additional urn boxes in a U-haul and an inoperable hearse that were being kept on the property.
When detectives opened up the hearse to retrieve the boxes, they also found a woman’s body covered in a blanket in the back.
The medical examiner has determined the body to be that of a 63-year-old woman who died in 2022.
"Through the investigation, the detectives have determined the woman’s remains have likely been stored and concealed in the hearse since shortly after her passing," Clark said.
He said authorities believe they found cremains of about 30 people who died between 2012 - 2021 and have been working to contact families. He said some of the boxes contained various tags and labels.
"As you can imagine, these are extremely difficult conversations to have and the information comes at a shock to many of the families, several of whom believed they had the entire remains of their loved one," Clark said.
He added that the family of the woman told authorities they had previously received cremains that they believed were hers.
Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services
Clark said the tenant was 33-year-old Miles Harford, who operated a funeral service in Littleton, Colo. from 2012 - 2022 called Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services. Littleton is a suburb of Denver, about 10 miles south of the city.
Clark said Harford appears to have experienced financial trouble that rendered him unable to complete cremation services.
"Mr. Harford had accumulated significant debt with several metro area crematories. As a result, these businesses would no longer work with Mr. Harford and he was unable to complete the cremation that had been pre arranged by the family of the woman," Clark said.
He added that Harford may have occasionally given random cremains to families in lieu of their loved one’s so services could still be held.
Investigators also learned from families that many of them experienced delays in getting cremains from Apollo, and that some expected pieces of jewelry but never received those.
Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Harford on the charges of abuse of a corpse, forgery and theft, relating to the woman’s case.
He's believed to be in the Denver area and police were "working to facilitate his arrest," Clark said, adding that Harford has been cooperative with investigators.
If you did business with Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services and have information to share with authorities, you’re asked to call 720-913-6610.
RELATED: Colorado funeral home owner, wife arrested as 189 decaying bodies uncovered
The discovery is the latest in a string of horrific cases involving funeral home operators in Colorado, which has some of the weakest oversight of the funeral industry in the nation.
This story was reported from Detroit.