Police outside the Beckside branch of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, U.K.Photo:PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo
PA Images/Alamy Stock Photo
A grieving widow is reportedly looking for answers after she turned her late husband’s ashes into jewelry — and now discovered they may not have been his remains.
A friend of the grieving woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told U.K. newspaperThe Telegraphthat the incident happened after the husband was cared for at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors, in Hull, England.
On Tuesday,Humberside Policeconfirmed they’d recovered the bodies of 35 deceased people from the funeral home between March 8 and 9 amid “reports of concern about the storage and management processes.”
Speaking toThe Telegraph, the friend of the unnamed widow said “They paid quite a bit of money to have the ashes turned into crystal jewelry for his widow, daughter and grand-daughter to wear to remember him."“But now they have found out that he wasn’t cremated and he has been in the freezer all this time."
“The widow is distraught," the friend of the family — identified only as coming from the town of Beverley in East Yorkshire — continued. “The family thought they had his remains, and are now asking ‘If it’s not him, then who is it?’ "
A picture shows a branch of Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull.PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty
PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty
“It’s not human, it’s not normal,” Suffill said, per the BBC. “It’s not something you hear, not in Hull, not in our little town, it’s crazy.”
Humberside Police gave an update on the ongoing investigation in a press conference on Tuesday.
“We are continuing to support the families involved through this extremely difficult and distressing time. This has been a truly horrific incident and they are understandably distraught and have many questions, and we are doing everything we can to give them the answers they desperately need,” said Deputy Chief Constable David Marshall.
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“Whilst I understand everyone will have questions in relation to our enquiries, I must absolutely stress that we are at critical stage and have to protect the ongoing investigation,” added Assistant Chief Constable Thom McLoughlin, who is leading the investigation. “Therefore, I am unable to provide the full details at the moment.”
McLoughlin added that the deceased found at the funeral home had now “been respectfully transported to the mortuary in Hull and formal identification procedures are now taking place.”
“As part of our extensive lines of enquiries, specialist search teams of forensics are in the process of carrying out thorough and vigorous searches at various premises linked to the suspect," McLoughlin added.
“As part of the wider investigation, there is also a quantity of what we believe to be human ashes and we are in the process of carefully recovering and respectfully moving these to the mortuary."
Humberside Police did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for further information.
source: people.com
