‘A house of horrors’: Indiana crematory under fire after widow alleges mishandling of husband’s remains

MUNSTER, Ind. — A Northwest Indiana widow is suing two cremation services after her husband’s remains were allegedly mishandled.

Darla Smith lost her husband, Darryl, last August.

“The love of my life. 23 years we were together,” Smith said. “He always got the short end of the stick.”

And Smith fears that in death, he’s been treated even worse.

She contracted with Crown Cremation Services in Crown Point, Indiana, which subcontracted the work to Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, Illinois.

Smith says she was promised Darryl’s remains within five to seven days. The time came and went by, and call after call, they told her he wasn’t ready yet.

“I was told he was a large man and can only be cremated at a certain time of day,” Smith said.

After 19 days, she says she received remains. But now she questions whose remains she has.

“My worry is that I don’t have Darryl, and I don’t know where he’s at,” she said.

Her concerns are triggered by a gruesome discovery and an unprecedented move.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza suspended and filed a complaint to permanently revoke Heights Crematory’s license.

“I would equate it to like a house of horrors,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza says a tip brought her investigators out there in February, where they found hundreds of boxes of unclaimed cremations and a hundred bodies waiting to be cremated.

“My office verified bodies with limbs and faces exposed, stacked on top of each other in coolers, some of them operational, some of them not,” Mendoza said.

Her complaint states one body was found mummified, located on the floor of a trailer. Another was found to have significant insect infestation and decomposition.

Her office says some of the bodies found on the Heights property were delivered from Crown in Indiana which isn’t even licensed to do business with an Illinois crematory.

“My dog received more dignity in her death and her cremation than these human beings did,” Mendoza said. “These people should never ever be allowed anywhere near someone’s deceased loved one and we’re going to do our part to make sure that’s the case.”

The Smith family filed a lawsuit Tuesday against both Crown and Heights, alleging breach of contract and negligence.

“It really was a rip on the scab. They were finally healing only to discover the unknown, the uncertainty,” attorney Scott Yonover said.

They’re hoping the courts can answer whether Smith really has her husband’s remains.

“What took place was wrong and disgusting and I want somebody to be held accountable for it,” Smith said.

The person who answered the phone at Heights Crematory hung up when WGN called, but in a legal filing, the business denies the allegations. Crown isn’t commenting either.

Smith’s lawyer tells us since filing the lawsuit on Tuesday, he’s recieved calls from 50 other families worried about what may have happened to their loved ones.