Human ashes found in a Hull funeral home cannot be identified, in what police said would be “devastating news for families and loved ones”.
Humberside police said they were still working with the coroner to formally identify the 35 bodies found at Legacy Independent Funeral Directors on Hessle Road, four weeks after the launch of a criminal investigation.
Officers have now contacted all the affected families, some of whom had been shocked to find their loved one was not cremated as they had been told.
The Humberside assistant chief constable, Thom McLoughlin, said extensive work was ongoing. “This is a lengthy process that has to follow the coroner’s regulations but, when complete, will provide families with complete assurance as to the identity of their loved ones and repatriation with their families.”
McLoughlin said more than 2,000 calls had been received on the investigation’s dedicated phone line, of which a “significant number were understandably concerned about the identification of the ashes of their loved ones”.
He said it had been impossible to identify what police initially described as a “quantity of ashes” also found on the premises.
“We have been working closely with forensic scientists and specialists to assess whether it was possible to extract DNA from the human ashes in order to identify them,” McLoughlin said.
“While the expert opinion provides us with an assurance that the proper crematorium process had been followed, unfortunately given the high temperature required to carry out a cremation the DNA will have broken down and degraded to such a level that we would not be able to recover a meaningful DNA profile.
“This means that we are unable to identify any of the human ashes. This will, of course, be devastating news for families and loved ones, and you have my heartfelt condolences at this difficult time.”
The officer told a press conference at a police station in North Ferriby: “Our specially trained family liaison officers continue to support and update the families of the 35 deceased and we have also been in touch with a number of families regarding the ashes recovered from the premises.
“In addition, we have had a significant number of calls that relate to suspected financial and fraudulent activity. I have dedicated specialist investigation teams carrying out numerous inquiries and following up on various leads and information.”
A 46-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman were released on bail last month after being arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.
