A terrible fear grips the throats of the loved ones of the deceased.
British police officers in the city of Hull revealed questionable practices and potential massive fraud in a network of funeral homes last Friday.
The bereaved families cry out in horror and the affair is gaining momentum across the Channel.
The managers of Legacy Independent Funeral are accused of several crimes, including burying empty coffins and providing ashes that were not those of the deceased.
The case is described as “complex” and “truly horrific” by local authorities.
“It was an empty coffin”
A relative of a deceased person told the Guardian, on condition of anonymity, that she received her grandmother's ashes last November.
The police finally told him that they had identified the latter's body in the funeral home.
" I am disgusted.
I feel physically ill.
I have the ashes of someone who I don’t even know if it’s my grandmother or not,” she confides to the daily.
A widow would have been the victim of similar events, according to The Independent.
Stories of aggrieved people are multiplying in the British press.
Bullie Jo Suffil, 33, tells the Daily Mirror of her total dismay in the face of a grotesque situation.
“I bet my father wasn't even in the coffin, it was an empty coffin (…) I kissed an empty coffin.
When I think about it, it’s disgusting.”
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Faced with the proliferation of testimonies, more than 120 police officers were mobilized.
At least 35 remains were recovered, as well as ashes from cremations.
Investigators are now working on their identification.
To do this, the authorities asked victims for DNA samples from their deceased loved ones.
According to British media, a man and a woman are accused of "obstructing a lawful and decent burial, fraud by misrepresentation and fraud by abuse of position."
Searches are currently being carried out.