Dead bodies are piling up at Carson City funeral homes waiting for cremation for months, investigation reveals
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Thu, 05/16/2024 - 10:40am
Marie Finkes is the director of FitzHenry’s Funeral Home in Carson City, and said that over the past year, there have been 12 bodies under her care that have been subject to extended stays. This is due to the fact that Carson City Public Administrator Scott Hoen has ignored their repeated requests for an electronic signature releasing the body for cremation.
“When a body is deemed to be an indigent case, we automatically reach out to the Public Administrator electronically requesting signatures for the disposition of the body through cremation,” Finkes said. “Then they begin their investigative process. State law requires 30 days, and we wait 31 days for someone to claim the individual. If they’re a veteran, they’re placed in a veteran’s cemetery, if they’re a non-veteran their ashes are scattered in Northern Nevada.”
When a person dies in Carson City, or is a Carson City resident and dies in another county, the first thing to be done is to locate next of kin. However, if a next of kin cannot be found, or if they do not claim the body, the case becomes categorized as indigent and the body is cremated by one of the local funeral homes.
There has been a consistent issue with receiving the signature from Hoen, Finkes said, and they have never received the signature electronically.
Instead staff from the funeral home has had to routinely go to the Public Administrator’s office to request signatures in person.
“We leave messages, wait, call the front office; we show up once a week at least every other week if we’re not too busy,” Finkes said. “It always requires a physical trip.”
Carson Now reached out to Hoen and the Public Administrator’s Office for comment without success.
Despite these efforts, there have been 12 bodies stuck at the funeral home for far longer than the 31 days required by law over the past year. FitzHenry’s does not take indigent cases all year long however; they cycle through receiving bodies from the city every three months for a one-month period, with about four indigent deceased coming through each cycle. For Carson City, the rotation involves Autumn Funerals & Cremations, Walton’s Funeral Home, Nevada Funeral Services, and Capitol City Cremation and Burial Society, in addition to FitzHenry’s.
During these in-person visits to the office in search of a signature, Finkes said she’d been told multiple times from others that Hoen was in the office but could be seen “sitting with his feet up on his desk with nothing to do,” and still would not return the signatures needed.
Their most recent case, a deceased Carson City woman, has been waiting in the funeral home’s refrigerated storage since February to be cremated.
The number of bodies being kept at the funeral home has even led to Finkes being forced to turn away business due to a lack of storage.
This is especially frustrating, Finkes said, since they are not being paid to store the bodies by the city in a timely manner.
Finkes is not alone in her issues with the office.
Carlen Thomas, Manager of Walton Family Chapel of the Valley in Carson City, has not received a single signature from Hoen for the four bodies currently being stored in her facility.
One body has been in her custody since November 2023.
“We are beyond frustrated,” Thomas said. “I’ve sent (Hoen) paperwork three times with numerous reminder emails, we’ve even physically walked to his office. He’ll be sitting right there but will say he’s too busy or if he’s not available.”
Thomas went on that it’s not only Carson City facilities that are struggling with receiving signatures, but Reno facilities as well. When a Carson City resident dies in Washoe County, they also have to receive clearance from the Carson City Public Administrator before the body can be cremated. This has led to issues across multiple facilities.
“He has never signed off on these indigent cases,” Thomas said. “He needs to have someone put his toes to the fire.”
Hoen was elected to the position of Clerk-Recorder and Public Administrator during the November 2022 elections, and took office in January 2023. His focus during campaigning was on elections, without much mention on the Public Administrator aspect of the job.
The Public Administrator’s responsibility is to administer the estates of individuals who pass without a will, which could range from simply authorizing cremation to a more complex situation of cleaning out and selling an individual’s home and filing their tax returns.
For many of these indigent cases currently on the roster, however, all that is required is a signature to authorize the cremation, according to the funeral homes.
Finkes said that, if receiving cremation authorizations continue to be an issue, they may have to rethink their contract with the city altogether.
“We’re essentially storing these bodies for free, and losing out on other business because of it,” Finkes said.
“All we need is a signature,” Thomas echoed. “With the length of time that goes on, the logistics of storing a body for so long…I can tell you, it’s not good.”
