12 March 2024 , 10:19
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A heartbroken daughter who kissed her dad’s funeral casket fears she “was kissing an empty coffin” after 34 corpses were removed from an undertaker’s mortuary freezer.
Relatives were left reeling after discovering a funeral parlour they'd used to cremate their loved ones had been raided by police. Many now fear the allegations against the firm could hit families going back 13 years.
Hundreds of grieving relatives fear they may have been given the wrong ashes after police started searching three premises in East Yorkshire. Humberside Police said officers have so far removed 34 bodies from Legacy Independent Funeral Directors on Hessle Road in Hull and taken them to the mortuary in the city.
Billie sadly lost her father Andy SuffilAn emergency direct line has been set up for anyone who may be affected after two people were arrested. Police took action after reports of "concern for care of the deceased" and arrested two people, a man aged 46 and a woman aged 23.
The two were arrested on suspicion of prevention of a lawful and decent burial, fraud by false representation and fraud by abuse of position, the force said. It has been claimed by locals that the funeral directors in East Yorkshire informed grieving relatives their loved ones had been cremated when their bodies remained in the mortuary.
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Police looked at three venues in total (Donna Clifford/Hull Daily Mail)Mum of three Billie Jo Suffill, 33, told how she was horrified to hear the news. She said she now fears her tearful farewell to father Andy Suffil when he died aged 52 was to an empty coffin. He passed away on July 9th 2022 after taking his own life. Five days later his son Dwane, 33, committed suicide after finding his parent’s body.
His inquest heard he struggled to cope with three devastating family losses in seven years. His sister told how her dad died after he was attacked by two men then a night later took some tablets in the house he shared with his son. His son, Dwane, went down to check on him and found him dead.
Tragically his son was overcome with grief and took an overdose five days later. An inquest concluded it was suicide. She said Legacy offered to handle both funerals for about £2,000 each and they were told the firm was “not in a rush” for the money.
Billie lost her brother Dwane just five days after their dad died (Hull Daily Mail / MEN Media)
Dwane overdosed after his father's deathShe said how she felt the undertaker was her "hero" at the time, taking the bodies, giving her time to raise the funds. Miss Suffill said: “I never actually got to see my dad’s body. I wanted to see him dressed in his new clothes but I never got to."
She says she was told he didn't look the same because he had been attacked the night before he died. Billie Jo said she insisted on having separate services with her brother’s taking place at the crematorium and agreeing her father’s could take place at the funeral parlour.
Robert Bush is the director of the funeral parlourShe said: “I got ashes after my brother’s funeral. But now I don’t even know if they are his ashes and I never got any from my dad. “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 at the time she was "so vulnerable" having lost everyone including her mum, nan and dad. "I have had a lot of losses in seven years and two of them five days apart. I was heartbroken. I do not know how I raised all that money and now it looks like it might have been for nothing.
Police have removed more than 30 bodies (Donna Clifford / Hull Live)“I wanted my brother’s funeral at a proper chapel. He was my best friend and it broke my heart when he died. I want to know if my dad is one of those bodies and that is why we never got the ashes. I recommended Legacy to a friend who lost his dad a few weeks ago and now I feel awful for recommending them. I have reported what happened to police and I just want answers."
Another relative hit by the scandal, but did not wish to be named, said he hopes police go back to 2010 when the firm began. He told the Mirror, under the condition of anonymity: "There's a lot of anger because everyone is in shock and wondering if we have our loved one's ashes or somebody else's.
"My partner's body was stored at Hessle Road in October. I had a terrible experience. I went to view the body three times in a dark and grubby room. I just hope the police go right back to 2010. Thirteen years of families, that's how many people are going through upset right now."
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