Maryland Crematory Shut Down after Decomposing Bodies Found Piled Up

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Maryland officials have suspended the operating permit of a crematory in the southern part of the state after inspections showed that, among other things, has allowed bodies to pile up and block a refrigeration unit door from closing, with some visibly decomposing after being stored at too-warm temperatures.

The Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors has reached out to people and funeral homes who may have worked with Heaven Bound Cremation Services LLC to inform them of a disciplinary order issued on Jan. 17 against the crematory located about 30 miles south of Washington.

The Board, which operates under the Maryland Department of Health, directed people who may have been affected to reach out to the company to answer questions or to claim cremated remains. For people who need to claim the remains of people who Heaven Bound had not yet cremated, the Board directed members of the public to contact the State Anatomy Board.

“The Maryland Department of Health is aware of this and is responding swiftly,” department spokesman Chase Cook said about a host of violations detailed in state inspection reports. “We will share more information when it is available.”

Public records show that Heaven Bound Cremation Services is co-owned by Rosa I. Williams and Brandon C. Williams. One number listed for the company on its website had been disconnected. Representatives of the company did not immediately return requests for comment sent via email on Thursday.

According to public disciplinary orders, the state first received a complaint about the crematory in December 2017, after someone observed cremated human remains in a trash can at the facility.

Rosa Williams, formerly known as Rosa I. Turner, later admitted in writing that cremated remains were “not properly disposed of,” according to Board records. The documents allege that ashes from more than one body may have been mixed in biohazard receptacles. But it wasn’t until August 2019 that the Board formally reprimanded Williams, assessing a $5,000 fine and placing her license under probation for a year, with the potential for further disciplinary action should the violations continue.

In the four years that followed, the Board repeatedly extended that probation, allowing the crematory to continue receiving bodies and advertise its services online.

Then in March 2024, during a Board inspection, officials found bodies stacked in cardboard boxes, hanging out of ripped body bags and stored at temperatures above 40 degrees.

A month later, an inspector observed a “strong odor of decomposing remains” and “flies coming out of boxes containing human bodies,” according to a report. Williams was placed on an additional two years of probation, her license was suspended for 10 days and she was fined $2,000. The crematory’s other owner, Brandon Williams, was also put on a two-year probation and fined $2,000.

In a January follow-up inspection, conditions appeared to have deteriorated further: Officials found 18 bodies that weren’t properly stored and three bodies that were “visibly decomposing,” including one that had been there since the March 2024 inspection, according to a Board report. The inspector also found that the cremation chamber had stopped working and that bodies had piled up until they blocked a refrigeration unit door from closing.

Soon after, the Charles County Health Department took its own action against the crematory, ordering the owners to immediately correct the violations while calling the conditions there “dangerous to health or safety,” according to the disciplinary order.

Under the state’s actions, both owners had their crematory operator registrations suspended indefinitely pending a formal hearing.