DENVER — The former funeral home owner who is wanted by police after human remains and cremains were found in Denver earlier this month has not been arrested yet, the Denver Police Department (DPD) said.
The police department announced on Feb. 16 that a woman's remains and the cremains of at least 30 other people were recovered from a Denver property — including inside a hearse — that had been rented by Miles Harford, 33. That morning, police issued an arrest warrant for him for investigation of abuse of a corpse, forgery and theft.
At the time, police said they were recently in contact with Harford and were working to arrest him.
However, on Thursday, DPD said that while officers had "been working to facilitate him turning himself in on his warrant," Harford had not cooperated in that aspect or turned himself in.
The police department released a Metro Denver Crime Stoppers crime alert asking the public for information that could lead to his arrest. Anybody with information on his whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and earn a reward up to $2,000.
This case began on the morning of Feb. 6, when deputies with the Denver Sheriff's Department went to the 2500 block of S. Quitman Street for an eviction. Harford, who had been renting the home, left. When the homeowner began cleaning the home, they found temporary urns and cremated remains, also called cremains. The Denver Medical Examiner’s Office (OME) and DPD responded to the home and located the body of a deceased female covered in a blanket and additional cremains inside a hearse that was on the property.
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Human remains, cremains found at Denver home rented by former funeral home owner
The body was later identified as a 63-year-old woman who had died of natural causes in August 2022. Police said they believe her body had been kept in the hearse since her passing, said DPD Major Crimes Division Commander Matt Clark.
The woman's family was contacted, and they told police that Harford had previously given them what they believed were the cremains of their loved one. They held a service with a different person's remains, Clark said. After this discovery, the cremains the family had held onto were provided to the OME.
All of the cremains found in this case were professionally done, police said.
During the investigation, authorities learned that Harford had previously owned Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services in Littleton, which opened in 2012 and closed in September 2022, Clark said. He said investigators uncovered that Harford had experienced financial trouble and was not always able to provide cremains to families. He may have occasionally provided the incorrect cremains to families so they could hold services, he said. He also had a significant debt with local cremators, so they stopped working with him, Clark said.
Though it is not clear when the conversation was held, Harford told police he could not find a crematory to process the body of the woman who was found in the hearse, Clark said.
As of this point in the investigation, OME said that it believes the cremains of "potentially 30 decedents" have been found and recovered, though Clark said "at least 30." Clark said all of the cremains are associated with people who died between 2012 and 2021.
Investigators are using state databases and labels on the outside of urns to identify the cremains and return them to the person's loved ones.
Any clients of Apollo Funeral and Cremation Services who did not receive the cremains of their loved one, or had an irregular experience with Harford's company, are asked to call the Denver Police Major Crimes Division and Denver Police Victim Assistance Unit at 720-913-6610. Tipsters can anonymously pass along information by calling Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP.
