Forensic investigators were seen at Legacy’s sites with police cordons in place (Credits: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
A widow was told her husband’s ashes that she turned into jewellery were not his, after police found his body in the funeral director’s freezer.
The grieving woman from Beverley, East Yorkshire, was told by police they had discovered her husband’s body after a raid on the Legacy Independent Funeral Directors premises.
Hundreds of others in Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire are feared to be affected in the funeral directors scandal, with several heartbroken families saying they are concerned the remains they were given by Legacy could have belonged to strangers.
An investigation is ongoing into the firm after police received reports expressing concern over care of the deceased and storage of bodies across two branches in Hull and one in East Riding of Yorkshire.
(Credit: Getty Images Europe)
A total of 35 bodies have been removed by officers from the premises for identification along with human ashes, Humberside Police confirmed yesterday.
The woman said she and other family members paid ‘quite a bit’ to have his ashes turned into bespoke crystal jewellery, MailOnline reported.
They are now questioning whose remains they are wearing.
The force described the incident as ‘truly horrific’, adding that they had received more than 1,000 calls since a hotline was set up on Friday for anyone with information or concerns relating to the firm.
A friend of the woman’s family told The Telegraph: ‘They then paid quite a bit of money to have the ashes turned into crystal jewellery for his widow, daughter and grand-daughter to wear to remember him.
Police outside Legacy’s Hessle Road site (Credits: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
Grieving families left flowers outside Legacy’s Hessle Road branch in Hull (Credit: Getty Images Europe)
‘But now they have found out that he wasn’t cremated and he has been in the freezer all this time.
‘Apparently, the police have told them that he could have only been frozen under the direction of the Coroner.
‘The widow is distraught. The family thought they had his remains, and are now asking “if it’s not him, then who is it?”‘
The friend said the family have lost ‘that closure a funeral gives’ you and are ‘grieving again’.
‘I never got to see my dad’s body’
Others trying to heal have also said the situation has stopped them from getting closure as they are tormented by questions.
Mum-of-three Billie-Jo Suffill lost her dad Andrew, 52, and brother Dwane, 34, in the space of just five days.
The 33-year-old is now convinced that the coffin she kissed goodbye was empty.
Billie-Jo Suffill saying goodbye to her father (Credit: MailOnline)
To make matters worse, she fears her brother’s ashes were not his, MailOnline told.
She said: ‘I never actually got to see my dad’s body. I bet my dad was not even in the coffin – it was an empty coffin. I was kissing an empty coffin. When I think about it now it is disgusting.’
She said her final goodbye to her dad at a ceremony in Legacy’s Hull chapel in December 2022.
Another devastated victim who dealt with Legacy is Louisa Millington whose husband Carl’s cremation was organised by the firm.
The situation has left her feeling ‘broken’, she said.
Speaking to Sky News, she described the ordeal like ‘being in sinking mud’.
She added: ‘Although I’ve lost Carl, I just feel like I am still tredging (sic).
‘I don’t feel like I can put him to rest, I don’t feel like Carl can be at rest cause things just keep being coming back and back.’
With 120 staff involved in the ‘extremely complex and sensitive investigation’, police urged anyone with concerns to get in touch.
‘My heart goes out to you all and I can only imagine how distressing this is’, Assistant Chief Constable Thom Mcloughlin of Humberside Police said.
Legacy’s founder Robert Bush with daughter Saskya (Credits: instagram/legacyfuneraldirectors)
He also asked people to ‘not speculate’ and to consider those affected in the community.
Deputy Chief Constable Dave Marshall from Humberside Police said at the heart of the investigation were the devastated families who are ‘horrified, shocked and re-traumatised’ by the incident.
The large investigation involving local, regional and national forces was ‘complex’ and ‘intricate’ to give families ‘the answers they deserve’, police said.
A 46-year-old man and 23-year-old woman were previously arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position.
Both have since been released on police bail while the probe continues.
Cordon at the family-run firm will remain in place, police said.
Legacy was founded 14 years ago by Robert Bush.
His daughter Saskya Bush is thought to be an employee at the family business.
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