Heights Crematory hit with more than 30 lawsuits alleging mishandling of human remains
In the wake of the Illinois comptroller's office's decision to shut down a Chicago Heights crematory, at least 30 lawsuits have been filed by people who believe their loved ones remains were mishandled.
Gabriel Hawkins, Scott Yonover and Karen Enright are representing those whose experiences with Heights Crematory include long periods of alleged improper storage of bodies and believing they received the wrong remains.
Also named in many of the lawsuits are Castle Hill Funeral Home in Crown Point and Crown Cremation Services, with locations in Calumet City and Dyer, which worked with Heights.
'When loved ones contract with these kind of companies, they seek closure, and obviously that closure is not provided when their loved ones are violated,' Hawkins said during a news conference Thursday by the Indianapolis-based CohenMalad law firm.
Hawkins said while about 30 lawsuits have been filed in Indiana, many more are to come, including in Illinois.
Darla Smith, who said her husband, Darryl, died in August 2024, sued Heights Crematory and Crown Cremation Services April 29.
Smith, who lives in Munster, said Wednesday she chose Crown Cremation to process her husband's remains after working with them after her brother died in 2017. She said Darryl, at age 60, died unexpectedly, though he had been frequently in and out of the hospital for chronic conditions over the past several years.
She said Crown Cremation told her they would need between five and seven days to cremate her husband through Heights and return his remains to her. Smith said after that period passed, she was regularly calling Crown and receiving excuses as to why the remains were not ready.
'I thought it was funny, but I believed what I was being told. I had no reason not to believe that,' she said.
It ultimately took 19 days before Smith was able to bring Darryl home. But since hearing about the Heights Crematory shutdown, she worries about how he was treated there and whether she has her husband's remains at all.
'I was immediately infuriated,' Smith said. 'I fear he was mistreated and just thrown in a trailer and left there. And I feel like if I hadn't kept calling, he could have been there several more weeks … It bothers me every day that I don't know whose cremains I have, because I obviously can't trust them anymore.'
Smith is asking for a jury trial for her lawsuit, in hopes that Crown Cremations and Heights Crematory will be shut down for good once outrage builds about their handling of remains.
But most of all, Smith said she is hoping for answers. The attorneys representing her and other plaintiffs said they are working with the comptroller's office to provide through sorting of documentation and identification tags.
'Obviously what the lawsuit provides is financial remedies, but really what's most important is the closure,' Hawkins said.
Messages left Thursday with Heights Crematory and Crown Cremations were not immediately returned.
Hawkins and Enright said they hope the lawsuits trigger tighter, better enforced regulations on funeral homes and crematories across Illinois.
'We want to make sure that there won't be any future victims or families that have to go through this,' Enright said.
Before the state comptroller's office shut down Heights and filed a complaint to revoke the owner's license in March, officials said they performed surprise inspections in July, October and December of 2024. Each time, they found problems that the owner agreed to correct, the comptroller's office said in a news release.
It took complaints of bodies stacking up on the property for state regulators to shut the crematory down and provide on-site support to process remaining bodies.
The office's news release disclosed inspectors found an undisclosed refrigerated trailer that contained 19 bodies from Indiana as well as hundreds of boxes of unclaimed remains, for which the office is working to find paperwork.
'I am appalled, disgusted, and deeply saddened by the disrespect Heights Crematory showed to the remains of the deceased, and we are working swiftly to strip the facility of its license,' Comptroller Susan Mendoza said in the release. 'No family should have to wonder what happened to their loved one when they pass or learn a deceased family or friend wasn't treated with the utmost respect and dignity they deserve.'
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
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