Maryland Governor Orders Review of Funeral Board After Crematory Controversy

Governor Wes Moore is not playing around when it comes to deathcare in Maryland. Just weeks after Heaven Bound Cremation Services was shut down in the interest of public safety after eight years of issues, Moore has forced the resignation of three members of the Maryland State Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors and ordered an indepth review of the all-volunteer team that in his opinion has “failed” families. 

“Firstly, these allegations are despicable, and those responsible need to be held accountable,” Moore announced last week. “I know the board is independent, but they have failed these families and I share in their outrage, and I stand with them in demanding justice. There is an active investigation into this matter, and these families deserve better.”

Based on the information that has come to light since the board took emergency action to shutter the embattled Charles County crematory on January 23, 2025, Moore’s outrage is justified. As Connecting Directors recently shared, the closure of Heaven Bound stemmed from an inspection that found 11 issues ranging from an inoperable retort to three decomposing bodies — one of which had been in the facility since a March 2024 inspection. The facility had amassed a lengthy list of violations since its opening in 2016, including some that mandated random, unannounced inspections by the board. 

Despite these findings, Heaven Bound was only inspected a handful of times over the years. The egregious body storage issues noted in the March 2024 inspection had only worsened by the time the board’s inspector revisited the facility in January 2025. Last week, the executive director of the Maryland Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors, who has only served in the position for 14 months, admitted that inspections were “backlogged.”

“When I began my position, I noticed we were backlogged approximately 300 establishments in inspections,” said director Erika Malone. “132 have been completed in the last year.”

Malone was one of several state officials, morticians, and funeral directors who were questioned by the Maryland House Health and Government Operations Committee. The committee was also told that some crematories haven’t been inspected in nearly 10 years. 

Malone added that the “board did no inspections statewide for two years before the issues at Heaven Bound were exposed” because Maryland’s “lone investigator was assigned office duty for that period,”, according to WJLA ABC7 News.

Three of the 11 executive members and officers of the board have resigned “under pressure” from Gov. Moore and have been removed from the entity’s website. The site now lists the eight remaining board members as well as executive director Malone, an administrative assistant, a licensing coordinator, and the aforementioned “lone” investigator/inspector.

Charles P. Scheeler was asked by Gov. Moore to lead the review, which will involve a “thorough assessment of the board’s structure and operations and whether changes to law or regulations are warranted,” says the Southern Maryland News. Scheeler is a former federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland.

More Unwanted Attention: Maryland Crematory Shuttered After Horrific Discoveries

It’s been a tough few years for deathcare on the public relations front, with the worst of the bad actors initiating global scandals from Colorado and Georgia, even as the other 99.9% of the profession exceptionally and ethically serve families every minute of every day. Unfortunately, it looks like that trend may continue into the near future, as a new report about ongoing issues with improper dispositions is raising questions about how these problems continue to arise.

Operations at a Maryland crematory have been suspended and the owners are being investigated for allowing multiple bodies in their care to decompose. On January 23, 2025, the Maryland State Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors took emergency action to stop Heaven Bound Cremation Services in Charles County from operating after a January 10 inspection found 11 issues ranging from an inoperable retort to three decomposing bodies — one of which had been in the facility since a March 2024 inspection. 

Eight rocky years

As more information is released about the continuing issues with this facility since its opening, it’s inevitable that people will question how it was allowed to continue operating. 

The Baltimore Banner reports that the crematory was given a 10-year state permit in December 2016, but had been on probation “for much of the time since for poor practices.”  

According to the Order for Summary Suspension issued by the Maryland State Board last week, complaints about improper dispositions began in 2017, with a 2019 complaint about commingled and improperly stored cremated remains resulting in Rosa Williams, who co-owns the business with Brandon Williams, being placed on probation for one year. She was ordered to complete an ethics course and practice under a supervisory mentor. After finding that she had not complied with the order, the state board initiated random inspections of the facility in 2021.

It was during one of these unannounced visits in March 21, 2024 that, says the order, an inspector found “human bodies in cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other with no support between the boxes; human bodies in ripped body bags with arms and legs hanging out of the body bags; human remains that were not stored at temperatures below 40F; and blood on the refrigeration unit and bodily fluids on the floor.”

In September 2024, the board placed the crematory operator registrations of both Rosa and Brandon Williams on probation for a minimum of two years “with conditions” that each “complete recertification through a nationally recognized organization that offers crematory operator training courses and pay a $2,000 fine.” Rosa Williams’ crematory operator registration was also suspended for 10 days.

The January 2025 inspection

Sadly, these sanctions seem to have made no impact on these owners’ practices, as another inspection on January 10, 2025 found many of the same issues uncovered a year earlier. 

“Human remains are currently being improperly stored on the premises rather than being cremated,” summarizes the order. “The premises are overcrowded with human remains. Bodies have been observed stacked one on top of the other, stored uncovered, and in a state of apparent decomposition. Dried blood has been observed on the floor, along with other fluids. The improper storage of human remains on the premises endangers the health of occupants and employees of the building.”

Details in the order reveal that “at least 18 bodies” were not stored at  a proper temperature, there were “three visibly decomposing bodies,” and “one of the visibly decomposing bodies has been in the facility since the March 21, 2024 inspection.”

Based on the January 10 findings, the board issued the Order for Summary Suspension on January 14, concluding that these investigative findings endanger the “public health, safety or welfare” and required “emergency action.” The board suspended the crematory permit of Heaven Bound Cremation Services, offering the owners the opportunity to request a hearing within 30 days.

What about the families?

While the reporting on this unfolding investigation has focused on the facility and its owners, it can be expected that the families whose loved ones have been involved in this tragic treatment will likely make their voices heard.

On January 22, one such family member posted the following message to the r/askfuneraldirectors subReddit:

My dad died in December. He was to be cremated in a crematory in Baltimore, MD. After a month with no word after trying to contact them I was told his body was taken by the MD state anatomy board due the crematory being shut down for whatever reason. I called the anatomy board and they say he’s not on the list they have and that they’d call back if another list pops up. I’m completely lost. Why would they shut down the crematory (truly afraid to know) and where the hell is my dad? If anyone knows what I can do next, I’d be happy to hear it.

UPDATE

I found out why they were shut down. Sadly, It’s just as horrible as you would imagine.

I got in touch with the MD Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors. The guy told me that Heaven Bound Cremation actually had cremated my father and still holds the remains. I would need to go down to their main site (I already went to their 2nd site and was told they had moved months prior) and ask for the remains back. So I drove the 40 mins only to find the door locked and the lights off. Called the board of morticians back and left a message. A news channel reached back out to me for an interview so that’s in the works. Thank you guys for your advice and support so far. Truly.

Another Redittor responded:

After reading this previous suit you linked, I’m speechless! This is criminal and not merely regulatory. This problem was identified as far back as 2017!!! Why was the state board not routinely inspecting for a period of time to ensure the problems originally identified were rectified?? How is not just the business, but the state and licensing/governing bodies not also liable after recognizing such serious problems and 🚩🚩🚩🚩them for routine inspection after the issues presented and allowing them to continue betraying the unknowing families entrusting their loved ones into their care?

No funeral home in the area identified a pattern??? Like once their descendents were transferred to this facility, they never received cremains back, and instead received a large number of families calling after fact wondering where their loved one’s remains were? Were they complicit? Were they paid off? It just doesn’t make sense.

Demand answers, demand accountability, demand the proper agencies and your government representatives step in to draft and pass law that prevents situations like this in the future.

These are questions that the deathcare community will, unfortunately and through no fault of their own, have to grapple with as more details emerge.

A week ago today I woke up to the news of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore Harbor.  It wasn’t so long ago that I was in Baltimore for the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) convention in October 2022.  I was in awe of being in proximity to this historical area where Fort McHenry lent so much to the birth and early history of our nation.  And, I even enjoyed a great meal overlooking the that same harbor with some of my dear friends from the profession.

Needless to say, the tragedy that was the bridge collapse is heartbreaking. . . and it looks like at least six innocent souls will have perished during the event which makes it even more heartbreaking.

As an optimist I look for positives in almost all situations. . . I’ve found that attitude to be healthy.  In coaching being behind in the score of a game always gave an opportunity for a great comeback.  In funeral service there was always ways to improve visuals and/or services which created an opportunity for family satisfaction.  Being optimistic, like I said, has always been healthy for me.

However, there is also a big part of me, that while optimistic, is also realistic.  And, when I think of the bridge collapse I think of the enormous financial costs that will need to be born to put a new bridge in place.  And, wherever the money comes from there is a good bet that at least part of the construction cost will come from the State of Maryland.

That’s where I find this interesting and a potential connection to funeral service.  Earlier this month I read this article from ABC News Channel 7 out of Arlington, Virginia, that suggested that the Maryland state budget was about $761 million to the negative side of balanced and one of the ideas floated to rescue the budget was for a tax on certain services, such as funerals.

I saw the article, published on March 9th — almost three weeks before the bridge collapse.  I then concluded that there was not much possibility for this idea to move forward so it was one of those articles that I read in my research but just let go without seeing any reason to share it with my readers.  However, that was before the bridge collapse and the potential necessity of more funds being needed by the state of Maryland.

Who knows what will happen now?. . . But being a “realist” in society all but concludes to me that “anything is possible” going forward.

Funeral Director Daily take:  I don’t want to take a leap and say that an event will cause a tax, however, seeing the article and then the event in such a close chronological time period made me think of the possibility of the tax now happening.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

What thinking about it also did was make me think about sales taxes on funerals and funeral merchandise.  In lieu of no national sales tax each state is allowed to legislate if and how they will charge sales tax.  That creates some interesting scenarios for funeral service across the country.

For instance, at one time in Minnesota, a rental casket was taxable but a casket used for burial or cremation was not.  I don’t think that is still the case, but I’m not really sure.

And while this article is somewhat dated – 2015 – it does point out some of the interesting sales tax situations across the nation.

Taxing, spending, and tax fairness will always be an issue in America.  Implementing the taxes on as local a base as possible will be cause for a myriad of taxes and reasons for them. . . . .however, that is government decisions as close to home as they can be and in my book, that is not necessarily such a bad thing.

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