Heartbroken widow who had spouse’s ashes made into jewelry ‘grieving again’ after being told they might not be his remains
A heartbroken widow is “grieving again” after learning that the ashes she used to make jewelry to honor her late husband may not belong to him — and that authorities are investigating the northern England funeral home that handled his services.
The possible mixup occurred at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors in Hull, England, where authorities on Tuesday confirmed they had recovered the bodies of 35 deceased people between March 8 and 9 following reports of “concern for the care of the deceased.”
Over the weekend, a family was told by police that the body of their loved one who died in July 2023 was still in a freezer at the Legacy Funeral Directors — and that his grieving wife must come to identify him.
A friend of the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Telegraph several women in the family had been wearing jewelry made from ashes they were told belonged to their loved one.
“The widow is distraught. The family thought they had his remains, and are now asking ‘if it’s not him, then who is it?'” the widow’s friend told the paper.
“They are now grieving again, they have lost that closure that a funeral gives you,” the friend said.
“His widow has now been told by the police that she will have to go and identify the body of her dead husband — imagine that!” they added.
The widow, daughter, and granddaughter of the deceased man had all “paid quite a bit of money” to have their beloved’s ashes turned into crystal jewelry, the friend said.
Humberside Police on Tuesday confirmed they had recovered the bodies of 35 deceased individuals from the funeral home, with formal identification yet to take place.
Assistant Chief Constable Thom McLoughlin said authorities found a “quantity of what we suspect to be human ashes” at the business.
A 46-year-old man and 23-year-old woman, whose identities were not released by police, were arrested on suspicion of preventing a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.
The pair were later released on bail, police said.
McLoughlin encouraged anyone worried about the care of their late loved ones to come forward, noting on Thursday that a dedicated phone line has received over 1,000 calls since Friday.
Around 120 officers have been deployed to handle the “extremely complex and sensitive investigation.”
“I recognize this is a distressing time for all those affected and I have no doubt it will have a significant impact across all our local communities and beyond,” McLoughlin added.
“However, this is an incredibly lengthy investigation and a highly intricate one at that, with many lines of inquiry.”
