DA: Funeral Home Director Facing More Charges After Cremated Remains Found In Storage Locker
UNIONTOWN (KDKA) -- The Fayette County funeral home director accused of taking advantage of dozens of clients is now facing a long list of new charges after authorities say they seized boxes of cremated remains being hidden in a storage unit.
Last year, Stephen Kezmarsky III was charged with a total of 170 felonies and misdemeanors.
At the time, Kezmarsky was accused of ripping off more than 80 people, mostly seniors. Now, officials say there are more than 150 victims to the tune of $600,000.
The Fayette County District Attorney's Office says boxes of cremated remains, some labeled and others unlabeled, were recently discovered in a storage unit, along with records from the funeral home. He said the information came in as a tip.
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"The large Tupperware box of cremated remains contained seven remains that contained names and 14 cremated remains with no labels, no names, no identification markings, no paperwork related to the identity of the deceased individuals," said Fayette County District Attorney Richard Bower.
The large box was seized and now Kezmarsky is facing dozens of new charges. That includes 21 counts of abuse of a corpse, as well as counts of desecration of a corpse and tampering with records.
In one case, Bower says remains were being kept in a Dollar General box.
"All of these actions are in complete disregard, disrespectful and insensative to the deceased families needs and feelings in a time when there should have been concerns about those families," Bower said.
Kezmarsky was arrested Thursday morning at the adult probation office in Fayette County. He was arraigned and is now being held in the Fayette County Jail on $500,000 straight cash bond.
Meanwhile, investigators are working to identify the unlabeled remains and plan proper burials for the victims if the families cannot be found. Bower says it will be difficult though because DNA cannot be extracted from ashes.
Investigators are asking families who never received the cremated remains of their relatives to give them a call.
Stay with KDKA for the latest on this developing story.