Colorado man pleads guilty after dead body found in hearse: He kept it more than a year later
Miles Harford, former owner of Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services in Colorado, pleaded guilty to charges of abuse of a corpse and theft after being caught improperly storing a dead woman’s body in a hearse for over a year.
In a shocking case of malpractice, former funeral homeowner Miles Harford has pleaded guilty to charges related to improperly handling deceased bodies. Harford, who worked in Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services in Colorado, admitted to keeping a woman's body in the back of a hearse for over a year and mishandling cremated remains.
The case has captured national attention in the United States over the funeral home industry. Harford remained the body of Christina Rosales, 63, at a property he was renting.
Colorado man pleads guilty after kept a body over a year
Miles Harford pleaded guilty on April 14 to one felony count of abuse of a corpse and one misdemeanor cont of theft, according to Denver District Attorney John Walsh. Harford will face up to 18 months in prison, under the plea agreement, he's sentence will be on June 9, 2025.
The 34-year-old man, initially faced a total of 12 counts, including abuse of a corpse, forgery of a death certificate, and theft. Local television KUSA reported that other charges were dismissed under the plea agreement.
Harford was arrested in February 2024 after Denver police discovered multiple boxes of cremated remains at a rental property. Additionally, police found the remains of Christina Rosales, 63, in the back of a hearse on the property, according to the Denver District Attorney's office.
“Miles Harford was entrusted by friends and family of the deceased with providing professional and dignified cremation services," Walsh said in a statement. "He violated that trust in an unimaginably harmful way ‒ robbing those friends and family of their peace of mind and opportunity to grieve. Mr. Harford is now accepting responsibility for those actions, which we hope will provide a measure of comfort to the friends and family of the deceased," Walsh added.
Cremated remains discovered after homeowner evicts funeral home operator
Police responded to a home Harford was renting, the property owner had evicted the man and reported finding boxes of cremated remains while cleaning the space.
The Denver Sheriff's Department, which was previously present during the eviction, inspected the home and discovered a dead woman's body as well as additional cremated remains inside the hearse on the property, according to Denver Police Commander Matt Clark.
In concordance with Clark, three dozen temporary urns were found inside the home, with some empty. He described the urns as "black plastic boxes similar to the size of a shoebox". All recovered remains appeared to be people who died between 2012 and 2021, Clark said.
At the time of the incident, authorities confirmed that the body found was identified as Christina Rosales, who passed away in August 2022. According to the Denver District Attorney's Office, Rosales' body had been kept inside the hearse for nearly 18 months. Her family was notified of the discovery, and her remains were sent to the Denver medical examiner's office.
In addition to improperly storing the cremated remains, authorities said Harford gave some families remains that weren't of their loved ones.
"Harford had given the Rosales family the cremated remains of a different person in place of Ms. Rosales, with the intention of making them believe that Ms. Rosales had been appropriately cremated," the district attorney's office said. "Further investigation discovered several other inappropriate funeral practices."