LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Clark County commissioners voted on Tuesday morning to terminate their contract with McDermott’s Funeral and Cremation Service, the same facility I told you shut down this summer after investigators found dozens of bodies being stored in disturbing conditions.
WATCH | Clark County ends contract with McDermott after disturbing conditions surface
Months later, the decision to end the county’s agreement with McDermott’s, which had been one of several mortuaries contracted to provide burial and cremation services for individuals in Southern Nevada without family or the financial means to handle end-of-life arrangements, is now formal.
The move comes months after the Nevada State Funeral Board revoked McDermott’s license, following reports that bodies were left uncremated and stored without proper refrigeration. Inspectors discovered 146 bodies inside the facility, some decomposing, some leaking fluids, and others left for months without being processed.
PREVIOUS STORY | Daughter, neighbor speak out after unsettling discoveries at Las Vegas funeral home
Several families who had entrusted their loved ones to McDermott’s told me they’re heartbroken and uncertain whether the ashes they received even belong to their relatives.
“If you’re not tagging the bodies properly, whose ashes are you giving to these loved ones? How do you know who you are returning to? You don’t. You can’t,” said Keline Baez, whose mother’s body was being stored at the facility.
“The coroner said it was pretty bad. She said it was the worst she’s ever seen,” recalled Dorothy Duran, another affected family member who called us after seeing our story.
PREVIOUS STORY | Families fear receiving wrong ashes as cremations begin for 146 bodies recovered from shuttered funeral home
Since the closure, at least one family has filed a civil lawsuit against McDermott’s, accusing the business of mishandling remains and breaching contracts.
