Funeral Home Won't Say What Happened To Body

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A woman said she is trying to find out what happened to the body of a relative who died last month, but the funeral home cannot or will not give a straight answer about the remains.

Marts Memorial Service and its funeral director lost their state licenses on Wednesday. The state said the funeral home continued to violate regulations while on probation. Marts was accused of improperly selling prepaid funeral packages, failing to embalm and store bodies correctly, and poor record keeping.

KMBC's Micheal Mahoney reported that Angel Rimmer's cousin, Richard Harrelson, died a month ago. Marts was supposed to handle the cremation. It was to be a simple indigent cremation.

"I'm like, 'Do you have him or don't you have him?' Well, he was supposed to be released today. You told me he's already been released,'" Rimmer said.

Rimmer said she has been having conversations like that with the owner of Marts Memorial Service funeral home -- Ronald Marts -- for weeks.

"Where is he now?" Mahoney asked Rimmer about her cousin's body.

"I don't know," Rimmer said.

Harrelson died at Truman Medical Center. He was broke. His family asked Jackson County to pay for an indigent funeral. It was approved, and the hospital was told to release the body to Marts funeral home.

"According to him, he's going to pick the body up today. But he's told us that three times," Rimmer said.

"What does the funeral home say now?" Mahoney asked.

"That he's got the body today. He's going to be cremated today. And he'll call me today," Rimmer said.

By the afternoon, Rimmer said she had not heard anything from Marts.

"I just want my cousin. You know what I'm saying? And I want to make sure it's him," Rimmer said.

Marts is referring media questions to an attorney, who has not returned calls to Mahoney.

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