Attorney seeks class-action status in lawsuit against funeral home | News

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Capitol News Illinois photo by Andrew Campbell

The former location of Heinz Funeral Home is pictured in Carlinville. The owner, August “Gus” Heinz, is accused of misidentifying at least 75 human remains — and as many as 800.

As many as 800 families across the country who visited a funeral home in Carlinville will never know whether the remains on their mantels are those of their loved ones, according to a statement signed by Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon.

The statement was filed in a lawsuit against Heinz Funeral Home in Carlinville and its director August Heinz for mishandling remains and providing the wrong cremated remains to family members.

The number of families is based on the number of clients Heinz treated between 2017, when the first known accusation was made, and 2023. Cremated remains cannot be identified using DNA because they decompose during the burning process, so families can never be completely sure that the remains Heinz gives them are actually those of their loved ones.

The affidavit said Allmon confirmed 75 cases of families across the country who had received incorrect cremation shelter referrals, based on existing records.

In one such case, a woman prayed and spoke to what she believed to be her mother’s ashes every day.

“During the investigation, someone had to go to her and tell her it wasn’t mom,” said Don Craven, who represents one of the affected families.

The investigation also found that Heinz stored bodies in unrefrigerated rooms at funeral homes, left them in local hospital morgues for weeks at a time, and mislabeled bodies and human remains.

Don and Joe Craven, of the Springfield law firm Craven & Craven, are seeking to bring former Heinz clients together as a class in a lawsuit, arguing that the 800 families have similar claims under the law.

The Cravens also serve as legal counsel for Capitol News Illinois.

When the Heinz case came to light, it wasn’t immediately clear whether or how he had broken the law. The Illinois State Police were investigating criminal misconduct, but as of September 3, Heinz had not been charged in connection with his handling of bodies.

But charges are not completely out of the question.

“We are currently investigating all possible charges,” said Macoupin County District Attorney Jordan Garrison.

The case also prompted Illinois lawmakers to introduce bills to more strictly regulate funeral directors and their handling of human remains.

Last month, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Dignity in Death Care Act. The law requires funeral directors to maintain a chain of custody with unique identifiers that remain with the remains to ensure proper identification of the remains at cremation or burial.

Typically, funeral directors consider it good practice to place a titanium locket with the funeral home’s name and a unique identification number with the body when it is collected and transferred for cremation.

The crematorium keeps a record of the person and number. The locket remains with the remains during the transfer and cremation and is usually attached to the bag containing the remains when it is returned to the family.

This tracking system allows us to guarantee that the remains handed over to the family are actually those of their loved ones.

Heinz did not have a crematorium attached to his funeral home, but he did contract with at least two local companies to perform cremations. Those crematoriums kept records that Heinz did not have access to, allowing investigators to determine the identities of some of the cremations.

Under the new law, a funeral director who places a false statement on a death certificate, prepares false documents or alters evidence could be charged with a felony.

The new law also provides that the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation has 10 days to inspect funeral homes after receiving a complaint.

In the Heinz case, Morgan County Coroner Marci Patterson filed a complaint against Heinz six months before Allmon, the Sangamon County coroner, made it public. One of Patterson’s deputies went to the Carlinville funeral home and found a decomposing body in an embalming room. Patterson reported it to IDFPR and then spent months trying to get the agency to take action.

IDFPR did not take immediate action against Heinz’s funeral director license. If the agency revoked the license, it would have just 30 days to complete an investigation and file a lawsuit, a spokesman said.

During that time, Heinz continued to provide cremations and funerals.

Heinz revoked his license last year after Allmon went public at a press conference with what he found at the Carlinville funeral home, including three decomposing bodies. Allmon went to the funeral home after a Springfield hospital called him about a body left at the morgue. When Allmon called the family, they told him that Heinz had already delivered the ashes of their loved one to them.

Allmon subsequently launched an investigation that also resulted in at least nine exhumations, including five at Camp Butler National Cemetery, the final resting place of more than 32,000 war veterans.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and television stations throughout the state. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with significant contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.