Denver Funeral Home Owner Sentenced for Body Neglect

The Denver District Attorney’s office has announced that the owner of Colorado Funeral House has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. He had left a woman’s body behind a hearse for more than a year and improperly concealed at least 30 cremated remains.

Miles Harford, 34, pleaded guilty in April to one felony charge of corpse abuse and a misdemeanor theft charge. Several other charges, including forgery and additional theft counts, were dropped as part of a plea deal.

This 18-month sentence marks the maximum penalty under Colorado law for these offenses.

Denver District Attorney John Walsh commented, “While Miles Harford will not be able to reverse the tremendous pain he has caused many families, we hope this sentence offers some sense of justice for the loved ones of the deceased.” He added that Harford had systematically violated both his professional responsibilities and moral duties.

Harford’s arrest occurred after the discovery of Christina Rosales’s body—who had passed away from Alzheimer’s at 63—behind a covered hearse. The body had been there for approximately 18 months. Authorities revealed that he had given the Rosales family the cremated remains of another individual, falsely claiming they were their loved one’s remains.

Additionally, police uncovered cremated remains hidden in boxes throughout Harford’s rental properties, some even tucked away in crawl spaces.

Prosecutors noted that his handling of the bodies strayed far from what one would consider acceptable ways to treat the deceased, angering many families involved.

This ruling comes amid a troubling trend of funeral home mishandlings in Colorado. Past cases include owners who were accused of storing nearly 200 bodies in a decrepit facility and misrepresenting cremated remains to grieving families.