DENVER — A former funeral home owner accused of storing the body of a 62-year-old woman who died in 2022 in a hearse at his rented home could not find a crematorium to work with him because of money issues, according to the Denver Police Department.
Miles Harford, 33, operated Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services in Jefferson County from 2012 to September 2022. He's now wanted on a warrant for charges of abuse of a corpse, forgery and theft. All of the charges relate to the woman whose body was found in the hearse Feb. 6; however, investigators believe they've recovered the cremated remains of at least 30 individuals who died between 2012 and 2021. Additional charges are possible.
"It appears Mr. Harford had accumulated significant debt with several metro area crematories," said Denver Police Commander Matt Clark. "As a result, these businesses would no longer work with Mr. Harford, and he was unable to complete the cremation that had been prearranged by the family of the woman."
According to Clark, Harford placed the woman's body in a hearse at the home he was renting in the 2500 block of South Quitman Street and covered her with blankets. He provided her family with the cremains of someone else, Clark said.
"They're devastated. They're shocked. They were hurt by this," he said. "They believed and they were processing their grief with the remains that they had and had services with that and have come to find out that was not the person that was processed and in fact she was being held in that hearse."
Her body remained there until it was discovered Feb. 6 during an eviction process, police said Friday. 9NEWS is not identifying her due to her family's request for privacy.
On that day, the owners were removing belongings and found what appeared to be cremains in a crawl space. The owner notified a Denver Sheriff deputy who was at the home for the eviction. The deputy then called Denver Police and the Denver Medical Examiner's Office.
While processing the scene, investigators from Denver Police and the medical examiner's office located the inoperable hearse that had been stored in the backyard. It was towed to the street, and they saw what appeared to be additional cremains. When they opened the vehicle to retrieve them, they found the woman's body. She was identified as a 62-year-old woman who died of natural causes in August 2022.
At that time, a search warrant was sought to recover the body and process the scene, which included a U-Haul parked in front of the home. Investigators found six additional urns inside it.
Investigators are cross-referencing state databases and information from labels on the urns to identify the cremains so that they can be given to family members. Clark said the department does not plan to do DNA testing on the cremains due to the high heat used during cremations. He said doing so would be extremely resource-intensive and results were unlikely.
"Investigators also learned that Apollo Funeral Services completed funeral services for people who were indigent or persons whose next of kin were not known," Clark said. "The team is working to determine if the services Harford provided in those cases are some of the cremains recovered at the residence."
Clark said investigators are "confident" no additional remains were located at the now-shuttered funeral home.
A neighbor near the home told 9NEWS Friday that during the eviction, Harford's mother was asking neighbors if they had jumper cables to get the hearse working again. She said his mother gave up when she couldn't find the vehicle's battery.
Harford's former business, Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services, lists a chapel near Dakota Ridge High School as its primary address, but families who did business with Harford said they met at an office in the 600 block of Littleton Boulevard near downtown Littleton. Another business owner inside that small house-turned-office building told 9NEWS after Harford moved his business out in 2022, the hearse sat vacant in the parking lot for months.
Ashley Nunez said she had to harass Harford for months to get her father's remains after his funeral in October 2021. Nunez said when she tried to contact Harford to set up a time, she was often met with a response from his mother who said her son was hungover and couldn't make the meeting. Months later she said Harford finally gave her family her father's remains, but never delivered necklaces made of his ashes the family had ordered as part of the process.
“I've never believed it was his remains from the first place," Nunez said. "I mean, it took him over five, six months to give it to us.”
“I want justice for not only us, but for all these other families out to go through this. I want my dad — that's the most, that's the only thing I want is my dad right now.”
David Komitor said he used Harford's company to cremate his wife's remains after her sudden death in 2019. Komitor said Harford presented himself professionally and was compassionate throughout the process.
But news of the eviction's findings have Komitor wondering whether the ashes he still has and has spread in the garden she loved, are actually her remains.
"I feel somewhat betrayed," he said.
Court records show that a Commerce City-based crematory sued Harford twice: Once in 2018 and again in 2021. The 2018 case was closed after a debt of about $28,000 was paid. As a result of the 2021 legal action, Harford was ordered to pay the same business about $10,000 in January 2022.
The Denver District Attorney's Office said the theft charge against Harford stems from a $1,200 payment the family made to Harford for cremation that was not completed. The forgery count is related to false information that was provided on a death certificate, the DA's office said.
Anyone who's used Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services who did not receive the cremains of a loved one, or had concerns about services provided by the funeral home, is encouraged to call the Denver Police Major Crimes Division and Denver Police Victim Assistance Unit at 720-913-6610.
Harford is not yet in custody but has been cooperating with the investigation, Clark said.
If you believe you've been victimized, reach out to 9NEWS reporter Steve Staeger.
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