DENVER (NEWSnet/AP) — A former owner of a funeral home kept a deceased woman’s body in a hearse for two years at a house where police also found the cremains of at least 30 people, authorities said Friday.

The discovery occurred Feb. 6 during a court-ordered eviction of a house rented by Miles Harford, 33-year-old owner of Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services in the Denver suburb of Littleton, police said.

“Mr. Harford appears to have experienced financial trouble in his business,” Denver Police Cmdr. Matt Clark said Friday. “At times he was not able to complete cremations to provide remains to families for services,”He said on occasion, Harford might have provided family members with another person’s ashes instead of the ashes of their loved ones.

Temporary urns were found in the crawl space of the house, as a Denver sheriff’s deputy oversaw the removal of Harford’s belongings, Clark said. Some of the boxes were empty.

Other urns were found in a moving truck and others were in a hearse, where investigators found the woman’s body covered with blankets, Clark said. Harford said she had died in August 2022.

Cremains appear to be associated with people who passed away 2012 to 2021.

An arrest warrant for Harford was issued Friday. He is believed to be in the Denver area and police are working to facilitate his arrest, Clark said. Harford has been cooperative with investigators.

Harford is expected to be charged with abuse of a corpse, forgery of the death certificate and theft of the money paid for the cremation. Other charges are possible as the investigation continues, said Denver District Attorney Beth McCann.

The incident is the latest in a string of cases involving funeral home operators in Colorado. The state has no routine inspections of funeral homes or qualification requirements for operators.

A married couple is awaiting trial in Colorado Springs following their arrest in 2023 for allegedly abandoning nearly 200 bodies over several years at a facility and giving fake ashes to family members.

More than two-dozen additional cases involving Colorado funeral homes since 2007 were detailed in a January report to lawmakers from state regulators.

Follow NEWSnet on Facebook and X platform to get our headlines in your social feeds.

Copyright 2024 NEWSnet and The Associated Press. All rights reserved.