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An Oklahoma woman, Aurora Hartley, is pursuing legal action against a local funeral home after a disturbing incident involving the retrieval of her stillborn baby's remains. Hartley went into preterm labor at 27 weeks in November of 2023 and delivered a stillborn child named Hadley. She entrusted Hadley's body to the Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy, following which the remains were sent to Alpha and Omega Mortuary for cremation.
Heartbroken and devastated, Hartley collected what she believed to be Hadley's cremated remains along with a hospital birthing blanket from Brown's Funeral Service in Coalgate, Oklahoma. To her horror, upon inspecting the package, she discovered the remains of a child that was not her own. The family then learned from the funeral home that the urn they received contained ashes of an unknown person, rather than Hadley's remains.
John Zelbst, Hartley's attorney, expressed shock at the situation and described the family's disgust at the mishandling of their child's remains. Zelbst revealed that the funeral home attempted to explain the mix-up by claiming the ashes belonged to a cremated placenta, a claim that was refuted based on the lack of characteristics of a cremation.
Dan Markoff, another attorney representing Hartley, called for intervention from the state board to address the negligence and potential closure of the funeral service providers involved. The distressing incident further highlights the need for improved standards and oversight in the funeral industry to prevent such mishaps from occurring.
In April 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor investigated the operator of Alpha & Omega Mortuary Service and Crematory, Stillwell Limited, Inc., for violations of federal employment laws. The investigation revealed that Stillwell had deprived its employees of proper overtime wages and failed to maintain required employment records. The DOL's Wage and Hour Division recovered back wages and damages for the employees affected by the violations.
Amidst the legal proceedings and investigations, Brown's Funeral Service and Stillwell Limited, Inc. have remained silent in response to requests for comments, raising concerns about accountability and transparency in the handling of sensitive matters such as the cremation and handling of human remains. This tragic incident serves as a sobering reminder of the importance of upholding dignity and respect in end-of-life services.
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