Animal ashes given to patrons of ‘fake’ crematorium, prosecutor says
by: Julian Resendiz
Posted: Jul 8, 2025 / 03:30 PM CDT
Updated: Jul 8, 2025 / 03:30 PM CDT
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Funeral homes that used the services of an inoperable crematorium in Juarez, Mexico, gave grieving sons and daughters boxes with crushed stones and animal ashes instead of their relatives’ remains, law enforcement officials south of the border say.
The revelations come as Chihuahua state forensic experts examine some of the 383 bodies found in the offices and warehouse of the Plenitud crematorium on June 26 and June 27 in southmost Juarez. The bodies were unrefrigerated and piled on top of each other in a building that reportedly did not have gas service and had been cited in 2022 for failing local health codes.
Body count rises to 383 inside idle Juarez crematorium
Crematorium operators nonetheless continued to receive bodies and collect payment from five Juarez funeral homes until June 26.
“They are investigating and identifying bodies. We know sometimes they handed over ashes that did not correspond to their relatives and in many occasions not even to humans but (were) animal remains,” Mexico Public Safety Secretary Omar Garcia Harfuch said Tuesday in a news conference in Mexico City.
https://www.borderreport.com/immigration/border-crime/animal-ashes-given-to-patrons-of-fake-crematorium-prosecutor-says/